Perfect Alibi
by InsertSmartPenNameHere
Summary: Kanda is the best detective in the New York precinct, and damned proud of that fact. But what happens when he's forced to team up with another detective in order to bring down Tyki Mikk, serial killer extraodinaire? AU. Slight LaviYu, maybe TyKan later.
1. Chapter 1

Kanda set the file down on the smooth metal surface of a nearby table, and took a pair of surgical gloves from the box held out to him. The rubber felt suffocating against his skin as he pulled them on with a loud snap. He frowned at them for a second before turning his attention back to the corpse, "C.O.D.?"

Reever gently placed his fingers on either side of the victim's head and turned it to expose her neck, where a plethora of finger-shaped bruises seemed to overlap each other. "Strangulation."

"Multiple ministrations?" Reever nodded. _Strike one. _

"Sexual trauma?"

"Yes." _Strike two. _

Kanda clenched his teeth together and pulled back the sheet covering the girl's chest, fingering the cross-shaped cut across her left breast, stitched back together with what looked like black nylon string. "And this?"

"Cuts were made postmortem; heart was removed." Kanda held his breath as the coroner ran his hand over the stitching. "Damned clean cut, too. This guy's a pro_." Ding ding ding! You're out_! Kanda heaved a sigh and pulled the sheet back up, raising his head to stare at the ceiling_. It's him; no doubt about it._

"Wait a minute," Reever's sudden words brough him back down to Earth. The blonde man was bent over the victim's right hand. "There's something under her fingernails. Some kind of fiber, I think. Hey Johnny, pass me a pair of tweezers, will you?" He said to his assistant, who passed over the instrument immediately, giving Kanda a nervous half-smile before scurrying away. Reever straightened up after a moment, and Kanda could see something glint under the flourescent bulbs. He pulled an evidence bag out of the pocket of his lab coat and watched Reever drop the fiber inside, snapping it shut when he was done.

"I've no idea what it is, but maybe it'll help you." Reever said as Kanda turned away and headed toward the door, and he waved a hand back in acknowledgement. There was a pause before the Australian man spoke again, softer this time, "It's him, isn't it? The one they all talk about."

"I don't know what you're talking-" Kanda Started.

Reever held up his hand for silence. "This is the third I've had this month; I'm not stupid, you know." He sighed when the Japanese detective didn't speak. "I hope you'll catch this guy, mate."

"I will," said Kanda, grabbing his file and making his way out, "I definitely will." Pushing open the door, he nearly jolted at the sight of his assistant leaning against the wall with a clipboard in hand.

"Sorry Sir, I didn't want to interrupt you during autopsy, but Supervisor Komui said he wanted you in his office ASAP."

"Tch." Kanda dismissed him with a huff as he started down the hall. Allen Walker was another departmental intern the higher-ups had forced on him. As of right now, the white-haired beansprout was nothing but a menace, though he still hadn't cracked under the pressure yet, like all the others before him. It irritated Kanda to no end that the Supervisors seemed to run every intern that comes in through him, as if he was some sort of ultimate test. Kanda was the best in the department, and he didn't need a Goddamned assistant; he could take care of himself perfectly well, thank you very much.

He turned into Forensics and, ignoring protests from his assistant, handed the evidence bag in his hand to a lab tech. "Put a rush on this, Miranda." He said.

The brunette nodded furiously and in her haste to get away, knocked over a beaker of God-knows-what on her lab bench, its contents spilling over the floor. Kanda grimaced.

"I-I'm terribly sorry!" She scramble to pick up the glass shards and then, remembering the evidence bag still in her hand, stood up again so abruptly that she sent a cardboard box cascading down to join the beaker on the floor. Kanda walked away before he exploded at her; it wasn't in his jurisdiction to hire such useless lab techs, after all.

"Sir, the Supervisor said to-" Began Walker, as Kanda trudged down the hall again.

"Where the Hell do you think I'm going?" Snapped the detective, stopping at a door with "Komui Lee" labeled on a small strip of metal nailed to it. His assistant made a move to follow, but a glare from Kanda stopped him short as the former pushed open the door.

As usual, Komui wasn't alone; the entire department knew of the man's insane love for company while goofing off - ahem, working - in his office. What wasn't usual, however, was the Supervisor's company that day. The red-haired young man seated on the couch (who the Hell has a couch in their office, anyway?!), who didn't look a day over twenty, turned back to look at his with a single shockingly green eye, while his other was covered by a dark patch. Kanda winced as the man stood up to shake his hand, his hair and orange scarf seemingly bouncing with color, momentarily blinding him.

"You're Yu Kanda, aren't you? I hear you've got quite the reputation down 'ere." The redhead flashed him s smile, "Can't wait to work on that serial with ya."

Kanda stared at Komui who, infuriatingly, nodded in agreement. _What the hell is he playing at? I'm supposed to work with this brat?! _He eyed the other man's outstretched hand like it was a poisonous snake, "I don't work with others."

"I'm afraid you don't have much of a choice, Kanda." Said Komui, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose. "Detective Stratton here came all the way from L.A. and assigned himself to this case. You should be honored."

Something clicked in the back of Kanda's mind. "Stratton? Lavi Stratton?" He turned back to the eyepatched man, who winked at him. "The one who cracked the Kamelot case?"

"You've heard o' me?"

Heard of him? Who hasn't heard of Lavi Stratton, the prodigy investigator who brought down the head of one of the biggest crime rings in the world? But what was a bigshot like him doing here?

"The killer's first victim was in L.A.," said Lavi, his expression darkening for an inexplicable second. "When I heard he moved down to New York, I thought I'd come n' give y'all a hand." Before Kanda knew it, the redhead was all smiles again, even give him a small nudge with his elbow. No one, _no one _dared to touch Kanda.

He took a step back, deciding not to berate the other for the nudge. _Who knows? Maybe the kid can help._ "Fine." He waved the file in his hand at Lavi, "Get your stuff and meet me in 302. 10 minutes."

"Uh, about that." Lavi interjected. "I don't have any of my stuff here; I was kinda in a hurry when I came."

Komui picked up the phone on his desk and started dialing, "No problem, we can just call your headquarters in L.A. and have them send your kit and files down-"

There was a silence as Lavi's hand came down fast on the hook. "That's alright. I'm sure you guys can lend me a kit, and I probably don't have any info you don't. It's too much trouble." He smiled sheepishly as Komui hesitantly put down the phone. Kanda narrowed his eyes. _What's with this guy?_

* * *

Woot! The first chapter of my first story, and my first author's note! :D Just some things I wanted to get clear:

1. Lavi's last name. I know, it's horrible. There'a really good reason why it's not Bookman, which will be explained in the next chapter, but I couldn't think of anything else. I promise I'll try not to use his full name too much.

2. I sincerely apologize to Allen fans for making him Kanda's assistant. I don't care much for his character, personally, and I TRIED not to let that biase this fic. But don't worry, he's not just your average run-of-the-mill assistant :D

3. There will be very mild yaoi in this, if any at all. I'm trying to ease my way into writing, and didn't want to do anything too extreme as my first fic. I might change my mind later on, but that's it for now.

4. Terminology: C.O.D - Cause of Death. Postmortem - after death.

Review please :D Flames will be used to.... burn down Edward Cullen's house and melt his perfect face. Sorry, Twilight fans.

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DGM OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS. THE ONLY THING I OWN IS LAVI'S HORRENDOUS LAST NAME; IF YOU TAKE THAT, I WILL GLADLY THANK YOU FOR GETTING IT OFF MY HANDS.


	2. Chapter 2

Kanda's marker glided across the whiteboard smoothly as he drew a single horizontal line, spanning from a few inches from the left side of the board all the way to the right, with a long tick mark at each end. Setting down the pen's cap, he turned his back toward the board and grabbed a piece of paper from the table, now strewn with maps, profiles, phone records, and everything else the department had on this case. He shot a brief glance at Lavi, who was sitting in a chair at the other side of the table, bent intently over a note sealed inside an evidence bag.

"Let's establish a timeline." Said Kanda, drawing a short arrow leading down from the leftmost tick, "The killer started almost two years ago. His first victim was the owner of an antique shop, an old man who called himself Bookman." He wrote down a date and the victim's name, "Found in his store just outside of L.A., with a gunshot wound to the back of the head."

He turned to grab a different file, and saw out of the corner of his eye the redhead still bent over the letter, noticeably stiff. "The second one was 14 months ago, a waitress at a small diner in Cypress park, still in L.A." He moved his hand down the line, making a smaller tick at the half point. "Chantelle Whittaker, 22, raped and strangled, heart was removed surgically." He circled the point, "This is when he formed his M.O., and when he began to move eastward across the country."

Kanda began to move his marker in rapid succession, making ticks closer and closer to each other. "Ana Maria Cortez, 24, Santa Fe, New Mexico; Jeanette Simmonds, 20, Wichita, Kansas; Sophia LaCroix, 25, Dayton, Ohio; Martina Black, 19, Eileen Song, 22, and Kimberly Basset, 21, all of New York; the last of whom is still in our morgue." He stood back from the board, finger on his chin, "Obviously, Bookman is the outlier here." He flipped a page in his file, and gestured at the note in front of Lavi, "The only reason we even know it's the same killer was that note left with Anna Maria Cortez's body, along with intimate details of the crime scene. Question is, why would this killer- Hey! Are you even listening to me?"

The young man looked up and gave him a sheepish smile, "Sorry 'bout that, Yu, you were saying?"

Kanda sighed. "This killer's an careful man, three deaths and we don't even have a single suspect. In New York, at least." He looked questioningly at Lavi, who pressed his lips together.

"We had a suspect. Just one."

"Had? He was exonerated?"

"No." Lavi looked away. "The only clue we'd ever found was an unidentified fingerprint from the first scene. We matched the print and had the bastard in custody, but he was released on a technicality." There was a slight pause as Kanda waited for him to go on. "I got a sample of his prints from the door of his car when we couldn't get a warrant; judge ruled it out in court. The son of a bitch was a big sponsor to the department, and the higher ups didn't want to upset him."

"Who was he?" Asked Kanda.

"Tyki Mikk. Ex-Chief of Medicine at County General, transferred to Lenox Hill a little over a month ago."

Kanda nearly jolted. A killer with an experienced medical background, moved from Los Angeles to the upper east side of New York City, five miles from where Martina Black's body was found. He was starting to see why Lavi was so determined about this guy being the one they were looking for, but everything, excluding perhaps the fingerprint, was circumstantial at best. A decent D.A. would be all over it, and no jury would ever convict.

"We have to keep looking; if this Tyki Mikk really is the one behind all this, we're going to need more to bring him down." Said Kanda, shuffling through a pile of papers, "Where did you find his print, anyway?"

"On Bookman's door."

Kanda looked up, disbelief in his eyes. "The door? You arrested this guy for his print on a _door_? Bookman owned a public shop, anyone could've left their prints there." He let a piece of paper in his hands fall onto the table, "Jesus, no wonder the judge ruled it out." He gave Lavi a look of disdain and went back to his files, muttering under his breath.

"You don't get it. I know it was him. I _know _it." Said Lavi.

"You have no evidence!" Kanda half-yelled. "We have to be objective in this job; we can only believe what the evidence tells us." He paused. "Unless there's something you're not telling me?"

The other man immediately looked away. "No."

Kanda threw his file down and leaned over the table, using both hands to support him. He looked straight at Lavi. "Why are you here?"

"To catch a killer, o' course!" Lavi scratched the back of his head. "Isn't that obvious?"

Kanda didn't move. "Why are you _really_ here?"

The other man leaned back in his chair. "But I just told ya, I-"

"Show me your badge." Kanda interrupted.

"What?"

"Show me your badge." He repeated.

Lavi looked startled for a fraction of a second, before smiling again, "Sorry, I think I left it back in L.A. with the rest of my stuff."

"Do you think I'm stupid?" Kanda sat down opposite Lavi, propping his elbows up on the table, "What kind of an investigator shows up to a case without his files, his kit, or his badge?"

"I..."

Kanda plowed on, ignoring the other man. "If we're going to work together, there can't be mistrust between us; I need to know you're on my side." He leaned back, crossing his arms in front of his chest. "Now, you can either tell me what the hell is going on, or I can call your department and ask them. Which is it?"

Lavi stared at him for a long moment.

"They made me leave my badge and all my supplies when I left for New York, to stop my involvement in this case." Kanda raised an eyebrow at that. "My superiors took me off the case because I was personally involved."

Kanda searched his brain and frowned. As far as he knew, none of the victims were connected to Lavi Stratton.

The redhead went on, "You know the Kamelot case, don't you?" He waited for Kanda's nod before continuing, "After Cyril Kamelot went to jail, I got a lot of threats from some of his comrades and underlings. Tyki Mikk is Kamelot's brother; he killed Bookman as revenge against me."

"But why whould he kill _Bookman-_"

"Because he was my grandfather." Lavi said simply. Kanda, for once, had nothing to say.

"He was the only family I had left; I changed my last name to protect him, but Mikk found out, somehow." Lavi closed his eyes for a moment, "After Mikk was released, I was so angry that I made the mistake of telling one of my coworkers about my relationship with Bookman. Word got around, and I got kicked off the case." He held up the note again, holding it up against the light as if hoping to catch some sort of hidden clue. "I've been trying to follow the killer ever since, but he always seemed to be one step ahead."

"And you're sure it was Tyki Mikk?"

Lavi nodded. "I'll never forget the look he gave me at Cyril Kamelot's last trial. If he could've, he would've killed me right then, I'm sure."

Kanda sat down again and bit his bottom lip. There was a long silence.

"Sir?" The beansprout's voice seemed to pop out of nowhere, and it was a couple of seconds before he registered the presence of his assistant in the room. "Uh, is this a bad time?" Allen gave the room's two occupants a nervous glance.

"Not at all, lil' guy!" Lavi exclaimed, waving at the white-haired youth. "What is it?"

Allen, on the other hand, frowned at the way the red head addressed him, and approached Kanda instead. "Sir, I have the trace results for that fiber found under Kimberly Basset's fingernail." He opened his mouth to go on, but Kanda gave Lavi an apprehensive glare and stopped him, leading him outside the room and carefully closing the door before speaking again.

"What is it?"

"But sir, I thought Detective Stratton was cooperating with you on this case." Asked Allen.

"Nevermind that, just tell me what the damned thing is." Said Kanda irritably.

"It's silk."

Kanda frowned. "Silk?"

"More specifically, Portuguese silk."

"Is it common?"

The beansprout actually had the nerve to look smug at that, earning him a hard glare from the detective. "The industry died out after the French invasion in the early 1800's, so there's definitely not a lot of Portuguese silk around." He looked down at the clipboard in his hands, "I couldn't find any stores in New York that sold it, though, so I guess it's a dead end."

Kanda took the analysis from his assistant and turned back into the room. "We'll see."

Lavi looked up at Kanda as he re-entered the room. "Well?"

Kanda didn't look at him. "Did you think I was going to let you in on this case just because you told me all that?"

The chair was sent crashing to the floor as the young man stood up abruptly. "You don't understand. I _need _to solve this case. For my grandfather, for myself."

"You're taking this too personally, that'll get in the way of the investigation. I'm going to see Komui." he gathered a pile of papers and headed for the door, but Lavi got there first and stood between him and the exit.

"No!" He seemed to reconsider, and continued in a calmer tone, "Look, you don't have to let me be an investigator. Just think of me as a... civilian consult. I can use my fame to help you, you can use your authority to help me, and if you think I'm getting too personally involved, you can kick me off anytime." His green eye pleaded with Kanda's black ones. "Please. I need this."

Kanda pursed his lips. As much as he hated to admit it, he did need help from someone with publicity. Even though it was him who solved all the cases, he usually left the press conferences and the public appearances to Link, the under-sheriff. If he were to go into the field to solve this puzzle, he would need someone with influence.

"So you'll help me in whichever way I want you to?" Lavi nodded.

"And you'll get out if I tell you to?" Another nod.

Kanda dumped the pile in his arms into the red head's, almost making the other collapse with the sudden weight. "Fine."

Lavi smiled at him. "Thanks, Yu-chan."

Kanda waved him off with a careless hand. _Yeah, yeah, yeah, here comes the sappy- Wait. What did he just call me?!_

_

* * *

_

Yay! the second chapter's done! And it's longer too :O

I was absolutely blown away by the number of reviews I got, thank you guys SO MUCH for all the awesome compliments and advice :) You guys are the best!!

Terminology(remember this? :))

M.O. : Modus Operandi. A Latin phrase roughly translated as "method of operating", used to describe someone's habits or manner of working, or in Tyki's case, killing people D:

D.A. : Defense Attorney. The lawyer, often state appointed, representing someone accused of a crime.

I think, I _think, _the Portuguese history bit was accurate, but if you know it isn't, please feel free to tell me.

**REVIEW.** It makes me feel better about myself XD

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DGM OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS. THE ONLY THING I OWN IS THE PLOT OF THIS FIC AND THE NAMES OF THE WOMEN TYKI KILLED. BUT I DON'T REALLY CARE IF YOU TAKE THE NAMES.**


	3. Chapter 3

It was nearing noon by the time Kanda stepped out of the police department, and he stood for a while, just beyond the glass doors, blinking at the sudden and unexpected light shining into his tired eyes. He cursed as he glanced at his watch for the time, promising a certain redhead a painful death for keeping him at work this late; the graveyard shift had ended six hours ago, for crying out loud. He didn't even notice the time passing as he and Lavi sat in the room and discussed everything there was to discuss on the case; from motives to alibis to witnesses to fingerprints, until they finally agreed to get some rest and continue the next day, exchanging cell numbers much to Kanda's dismay. Flipping open his phone, the Japanese man frowned at the words displayed on the screen.

**35 missed calls.**

Scrolling down the list of numbers quickly, he sighed and dialed his home phone. The call was picked up halfway through the first ring.

"Yu? Where are you?" Asked Lenalee, worry and agitation evident in her voice.

"Got held up at work, I'm coming home now." Said Kanda, walking across the parking lot toward his designated spot, where his dark blue Nissan was parked, waiting for him. Kanda tucked the phone between his shoulder and the side of his face, freeing his hands to rummage for his car keys.

"Is my brother making you stay late?" Lenalee huffed, "When is he going to accept the fact that we're engaged, and there's nothing he can do about it? I'm definitely going to talk to him about this-"

Finally locating his keys, Kanda jammed them into the keyhole and stepped inside the car, cringing at the heat that had built up inside during the morning. "No, no, nothing like that. I was working on a case, that's all."

Kanda could almost see his fiancee's indignant expression on the other end, "How many times did I tell you to apply for a transfer? The graveyard shift is terrible for your health, Yu; The W.H.O. listed it as a cause of cancer a couple years back and-"

"A _probable _cause." Kanda corrected, as the engine hummed softly to life, "I read the article too, Lenalee. You made me, remember?"

Lenalee gave a small sigh. "All I'm trying to say is don't push yourself too hard, alright?"

"Alright, I got it."

"I've got to get to the hospital soon, but I left dinner for you in the oven. Make sure you eat it all, God knows you need some fattening up."

Kanda chuckled and shook his head. "OK, fine." He hesitated before opening his mouth again, "Listen... be careful, alright? It's not safe out there right now." Especially after finding out that the hospital Tyki Mikk transferred to was the exact same one as Lenalee worked at. But of course, he couldn't tell her that. Kanda was nothing if not a man who lived meticulously by the books.

Lenalee seemed to hesitate, too. "This is about those dead girls on the news, isn't it?" When Kanda stayed silent, she continued, "It's OK. I know you can't discuss an ongoing case. And I'll be sure to watch myself, too, happy?"

"Yes. Very."

"Alright then. I love you."

Kanda paused for a second before uttering the phrase, so quietly he was sure Lenalee could barely hear it, if she did at all. "I love you too."

* * *

Silence was all that greeted Kanda when he arrived at his modest downtown apartment, after a short ten minute drive from work. The living room smelled of lavender vanilla, Lenalee's favorite scented candles; she had enthusiastically placed one in every room of the apartment despite Kanda's protests, and although the latter would never admit it to her, the scent did calm him after an exhausting day at work.

Draping his coat onto the back of a chair, Kanda went into the bathroom to splash water on his face, before heading into the kitchen for dinner. The corners of his lips crept upward when he saw the large dish of soba noodles and tempura, kept warm inside the oven. Lenalee always said his favorite dishes couldn't possibly fill a grown man like Kanda, but still never refused to make it for him.

He carried the dish to the kitchen table and took a pair of chopsticks from a drawer beside the sink, flipping on the television in the adjoining living room in the process. As he dug in hungrily, he heard the familiar music of the local news from the TV.

"...And in other news, the body of 21-year-old Kimberly Basset, an optics major at the University of Rochester, has been discovered yesterday morning in Upstate New York." The middle-aged woman said with a grim expression, while a picture of the victim appeared in the corner of the screen. Kanda couldn't help but note the disturbing difference between the smiling face of the young woman in the photo and the body he saw in the morgue only hours before. "Basset is said to be the eighth victim of the notorious killer dubbed as "The Heartbreaker" currently terrorizing the city of New York."

Kanda nearly choked on his soba. The Heartbreaker? Stupid press, they're giving him a title now? Killers like him want attention, and giving him this kind of publicity would only be handing him what he wants, and urging him to kill more people. Kanda sighed and continued with his food as a commercial break came on a couple of minutes later and the sound of a breakfast cereal jingle invaded his ears, looking up again when he heard a familiar name.

"...Here we have inspector Howard Link's comments on the discovery of the body." The picture flickered into the image of the under-sheriff, his face solemn as always. "As you all know, I cannot discuss details of an open case, but what I will tell you is this: We currently have every single member of the department available on this case, so citizens of New York can rest easy knowing we will catch this killer." The image of the reporter came back onto the screen, "Stay tuned for more updates on this story. This is Nathalie Thallman, ABC news."

Kanda flicked off the television in disgust, pushing the now empty bowl away from him. As far as he was concerned, this case already had more than enough press coverage, and no matter what the reporters say, there's absolutely nothing the media or public can do to help the investigation. Kanda had to hand it to Link, though; he could never understand how the thirty-year-old Brit can face everything he faced everyday and not start swearing at the cameras for frustration. Of course, that was one of the reasons Kanda never got any publicity for any of his cases, and he was perfectly fine with that.

Placing the dishes in the sink but too lazy to wash them, Kanda trudged tiredly into the bedroom he shared with Lenalee. He collapsed onto the bed without bothering to change, and as he pulled the comforter over himself, he felt the scent of lavender vanilla clouding over his senses like a veil.

* * *

Lavi stood on the sidewalk and glanced across the street at the 10-building complex of Lenox Hill Hospital. Up close, the 12-storey building seemed more intimidating than ever as they seemed to warn Lavi with a statement he already knew: you shouldn't be here. Ignoring the uneasiness in his stomach, he carefully maneuvered around speeding ambulances to cross the street, passing through the automatic glass doors into the reception area.

A male nurse was talking in rapid fire into a phone when Lavi approached, and hung up with a frown when he noticed the redhead waiting. "Can I help you?"

"I'm here to see one of your resident surgeons? He's new here." Said Lavi, "Dr. Tyki Mikk?"

The nurse flipped a page on his clipboard, "Do you have an appointment?"

"Uh, well, no, but-"

The man pushed five pages of forms and a pen toward Lavi without looking up. "Fill these out and wait in line."

Lavi glanced back at the "line", where twenty or so sickly looking people sat in plastic chairs, each looking like they'd been there for longer than the next. He turned back to the nurse. "Look, I'm not a patient and this is urgent. If you could just-"

"No." The man said with a finality. "This isn't a walk-in clinic. If you don't have an appointment, you have to wait until a doctor is free."

The 20-year-old detective put his hands on the counter for support and leaned in. "Do you know who I am?"

The nurse looked unimpressed, "Am I supposed to?"

Lavi growled in frustration. "If you could just let me see Tyki Mikk-!"

"Like I said, if you don't have an appointment, you have to wait; I don't care who you are. Now leave before I call security."

Lavi stared at the man in exasperation for a few more seconds before abruptly turning and heading for the door. He was almost out before a voice, female this time, called out behind him.

"Excuse me? Did you say you were looking for Dr. Mikk?" Lavi wheeled around to see an Asian young woman wearing a nurse's scrubs. She had dark eyes and a pretty smile. "I can take you to him if you want; he's probably on lunch break right now, anyway."

"Thank you." Said Lavi, as she began leading him toward the elevators. They got in and she pressed the button labelled 10.

"I'm Lenalee, Dr. Mikk's assisting nurse." She held out her hand, and Lavi shook it briefly.

"I'm Lavi, I'm..." Lavi paused, "I'm a friend of his."

Lenalee squinted her eyes and leaned closer, as though getting a better look at him. Suddenly, she seemed to remember something. "You're that detective, the one from L.A., aren't you? I knew you looked familiar!" She beamed. "I saw you on the news a while ago, you're the one who sent Cyril Kamelot to jail! Wow, I had no idea Dr. Mikk was friends with you!"

The young man grinned, putting his hands behind his head. "I haven't known him for that long, actually. But... we've been seeing a lot of each other lately." Lenalee nodded.

The elevator dinged to a stop, and Lenalee led Lavi down a hallway labelled "Cardiology". "His office is right here," she said, before stopping at a door seemingly no different from all the others, "He's probably eating lunch right now, but he always eats in here instead of the staff lounge." She knocked softly. "Dr. Mikk?"

There was a muffled "come in" from inside the room, and Lenalee pushed open the door. "There's someone here to see you."

Lavi walked in just in time to see Tyki Mikk sitting at his desk with a sandwich in hand, his hands and the said sandwich frozen in midair as he saw Lavi. There was an awkward few seconds of silence before Mikk put down his sandwich and turned to his assistant, "Lenalee, could you give us a few minutes, please?"

"Sure, no problem. Just page me if you need anything." She left, closing the door behind her.

Mikk sighed. "What do you want this time, Detective Stratton? I've already given you my DNA, my fingerprints, what more do you want from me?"

"I'll tell you what I want." Lavi was in no mood to joke around, "I want the truth."

"I've already told you everything I knew about your grandfather's death, Detective, which is absolutely nothing!" Mikk threw up his hands in the air, standing up. "And now you follow me across the country? I think this could be considered harassment!"

Lavi held his ground. "Don't tried to threaten me, Mikk. It won't work."

The surgeon threw his head back in what Lavi could've sworn was a smirk, "You have nothing on me. If you did, you would've arrested me a long time ago."

"Just you wait, you son of a bitch." Lavi hissed pointedly at Mikk, whose face showed no sign of a smirk now. "I'll get you for everything you've done, if it's the last thing I do."

The door cracked open. "Uncle Tyki?" A little girl poked her head inside, a lollipop in her mouth. "What are you doing?" She glanced warily at Lavi, who looked livid.

"Rhode!" Mikk quickly crossed the room and ushered her back into the hall, "I'll be done in a bit. Be a good girl and go play with Lenalee, OK?" Lavi heard the soft sound of small feet skipping away, then the not-so-soft sound of Mikk entering the room again. "I think it's time you go, Detective. As you can see, my niece requires my attention; I'm all that she has left, now that she doesn't have a father anymore."

Despite Mikk glaring daggers at him, Lavi met the other's gaze defiantely. "This isn't over, Mikk." He then headed down the dimly lit hall with wide strides, his blood boiling.

* * *

So there ya go. A bit of KanLena at the beginning for you KanLena fans. I actually think they're pretty cute, too, and I'm sad that it won't be going on for much longer....

Wow, no terminology for this one. Guess I better do review replies then:

**Sanctuary: **Thanks ;) As for the reason Tyki's killing... well, that's for me to know, and for you to go insane guessing XD Just kidding... *Gasp* You want to be killed by Tyki?! He is a smexy bishie, but I'm not sure if I would want to get killed.... And the LaviYu.... I'm pretty sure now that TyKan will prevail(because it's the most awesome pairing ever :)) so I'm not sure how much LaviYu there will be in this. Thanks for reviewing!

**wolfpup026:**Heh heh, Tyki does show up in this chapter, hope you liked his entrance, it's probably not what you expeted, no? :D Wow, what is with everyone and their obssession to be killed by Tyki o.0

**marufu-chan:**o.0 You really liked the last part? That makes one of you XD I tried to end on something funny but failed miserably... I guess that prooves there isn't a funny bone in my body... :P Thanks for reviewing!

**simply anonymous:**Haha... nice Kanda... just the thought of that makes me want to laugh. We all love Kanda as the selfish little bastard he is though... XP Thanks for the review!

**gymnast10: **Thanks a lot! :) I got the idea for this fic while watching CSI, I'm in love with crime dramas right now XD I really don't know enough about criminology to be an expert, honestly, basically just what I learned from watching and re-watching CSI :P

**DarkMadamRose:**Thank you!! I'm so glad you think my writing's good, I thought the last chapter was a bit rushed, really... OMFG I made a twist!! XD Thanks for reviewing!

Oh yeah, one more thing. I changed the rating of this fic, mainly for language, and some, er, explcit scenes later :P

**REVIEW.**Otherwise all my careful bolding of the word "review" would be in vain D:

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DGM OR ANY CHARACTERS IN IT. I DO, HOWEVER, OWN THIS KIND OF CHEESY PLOT, SO HANDS OFF!!! :( JUST KIDDING, I LOVE YOU GUYS TOO MUCH TO GET ANGRY AT YOU ;)**


	4. Chapter 4

"We've got a lead."

Lavi looked up and raised an eyebrow.

"Anonymous tip, came in at two thirty this afternoon." Kanda stifled a yawn, "Gave a name and an address; said we should check it out."

"Any way of knowing who it was?" Asked Lavi, raising a cup of coffee to his lips and taking a minuscule sip.

The Japanese man shook his head. "Caller used a public phone booth, they managed to trace it to somewhere in the Upper East Side before the call ended."

"We should run the name through IAFIS and see what-" Lavi started.

Kanda frowned, "You think I'm stupid? Already did." He slid a file across the table to the redhead, who took it with a smile. The mugshot on the first page was that of a bored-looking man with long fiery red hair, and a hint of a nearly clean-shaven beard, shamelessly grinning into the camera. "Marion Cross," said Kanda, tapping the surface of the glass table with a finger, "Theft, illegal possession of a firearm, B&E, served a couple years for a sexual assault, got out two and a half years ago." There was a momentary lapse of silence in which Lavi read the file and sipped his coffee.

"This isn't our guy." He finally said, looking up at Kanda, "Petty theft? Breaking & Entering? Come on. This serial's smart, and this guy sure as Hell isn't."

"I know." Said Kanda. "But it's worth checking out."

Lavi put the file down. "How can we trust this anonymous tipper anyway? For all we know, it could be Tyki Mikk trying to throw us off course."

"We're not even on a fuckin' course," Snapped Kanda, rubbing his eyes. He'd only gotten four hours of sleep before coming in again, thanks to a certain someone. "And you have to be objective about Mikk; if we can't find evidence that he did it, we can't assume he did it. I can kick you off this case anytime I want to, remember?" He paused. "You have to listen to what I say, and I say we're going to check out this lead, understood?"

Lavi held up his hands in surrender. "Alright, alright. You're the boss, Yu-chan."

"Will you stop calling me that?!"

The detective stared, "What? I thought 'chan' was used as a term of endearment in Japanese!"

"It's used to address a girl, you idiot. And since when do we know each other well enough for you to use my first name?"

"We're partners, aren't we?" Lavi grinned, getting up off his chair and walking to the other side, where Kanda sat scowling. "And partners are supposed to be close!" He leaned down and draped an arm over Kanda's shoulders.

Kanda gave a vicious glare and threw his arm off. "Get your fucking hands off me. And stop calling me by my first name."

The redhead shrugged, downing the rest of his coffee in one gulp. "OK, Yu-chan."

"ARGH!"

* * *

Kanda made a face as they entered the long narrow hallway, slowing for a second. The air stunk of something he couldn't quite place, for which he was grateful; all he wanted at the moment was to finish the business and get the Hell out of there. He looked down at the piece of paper in his hand, "It's 207."

The building manager gave a small nod and stopped the group at one of the many grime-coated doors. "Here yeh are," He gestured with a hand, "Anything else yeh need?"

"We're good, thanks." Said Lavi, waving the manager off.

The uniform with them, a newbie by the name of Krory, stepped up and knocked loudly on the door, as if he was as eager as Kanda to get out. "Marion Cross? NYPD, open up!"

Kanda counted thirty full seconds, during which Krory seemed more and more anxious, before the door was opened, revealing the red-haired man he had seen on the mugshot. Cigarette smoke and alcohol invaded his nostrils.

Cross leaned casually on the doorframe, eyeing them all with a relaxed gaze, "Well well, what do New York's finest want with me now?"

Kanda flashed his badge. "My name is Detective Kanda, and this is Detective Stratton and Officer Krory," He gestured to Lavi and the uniform, "We'd like to talk to you about Martina Black, Eileen Song, and Kimberly Bassett."

"And if I say no?"

"You seem to be under the impression that this is a request, Mr. Cross." Said Kanda coolly, "Need I remind you that you haven't contacted your parole officer for four months now?" He pushed past the slightly stunned Cross without waiting for a response, Lavi and Krory trailing behind him.

The apartment was a total mess; empty cigarette packs and alcohol bottles littered the floor, and piles of unwashed dishes dominated the sink and kitchen counter. Kanda picked up a half-full bottle of Lafite wine from the coffee table and sniffed it.

"You like it?" He heard Cross behind him. "That there's mighty good wine, I tell ya." Cross picked up an empty glass and poured some wine into it, "Wanna have a drink with me?"

Kanda raised an eyebrow at the older man as the latter sat himself down on the sofa and winked at him. "I might start getting caught on purpose if all them detectives down at P.D. were as pretty as you." He took a swig of wine.

"As I was saying," Said Kanda as Lavi wandered off into the other room, "We're here to talk to you about Martina Black, Eile-"

"Them dead girls on TV. 'The Heatbreaker', eh? Complete Bullshit, if you ask me." He took a long drink, smacking his lips.

Kanda remained unimpressed. "Where were you on Wednesday night?" The approximate time of death of Kimberly Bassett was around 2:00 a.m..

"Hold up, hold up." Cross jumped to his feet, looking indignant now. "You're not accusing me of killing those girls, are ya?" He looked Kanda directly in the eye. "I may've done some stupid things a couple years ago, but I sure as Hell ain't a killer."

"Stupid things?" Kanda raised his voice now, his words echoing through the apartment. "Like raping that sixteen year old girl?"

"Hey, I was drunk, and I swear she was hitting on me!" Cross drained his glass and leaned forward to pour himself another, "And besides, I've served my time for that."

Kanda was about to reply before Lavi's voice floated from the hall. "Yu-chan!" The redhead emerged from the bathroom with a small white bottle in hand. He shook the bottle to indicate pills inside and said, "Rohypnol."

Cross looked confused as Kanda gave Lavi a short glare before turning back to him, "Well, looks like we'll be continuing our talk downtown, Mr. Cross."

* * *

"What do you think?" Kanda asked, glancing through the one-way glass at Cross, who sat in a chair tapping his fingers against the table. Lavi took a few moments to consider it.

"You know what I think."

The Japanese detective nodded. "You don't think he did it."

"This guy doesn't fit the profile," Said Lavi, "He's not smart or careful enough."

Truth be told, Kanda had a hard time buying it himself, but it would be stupid to dismiss this without even pursuing it. He grabbed his file and an evidence bag and headed for the door. "He had rohypnol in his medicine cabinet. Might as well get him for that."

Cross looked up as Kanda closed the door of the interrogation room behind him and sat down, cracking his lips into a smile as the younger man's eyes leveled with his. "Hello again," He said, "You reconsidered about that drink?"

Kanda appeared to ignore him and pulled out the small bottle, which was now encased inside a clear plastic bag labelled "Evidence". "Do you know what this is, Cross?"

The man shrugged, "Skittles?"

He was not amused. "Rohypnol." Cross gave him a blank look. "It's a date rape drug, and it was found in your medicine cabinet. I'm sure you know what _that _means, don't you?" Kanda dropped his voice to barely a whisper. It was a technique he often used in interrogations; if he spoke quietly, the subject would have to listen more carefully, giving him their utmost attention at the same time. "And do you know what else is interesting, Cross? The same drug was found in the systems of all three victims." He opened his files and laid autopsy photos of the girls in front of Cross. "These women were all raped before being killed. You want to explain that?"

Cross was silent for a long time, and Kanda sighed. "Alright, let's start with how you got the drugs."

"Couldn't tell ya," Said the older man, scratching his chin, "I don't remember buying it."

"You're going to have to do better than that," Kanda said, "Come on, Cross. Think back."

"...Wait." Cross raised his had to look at the ceiling, seemingly remembering something. "I saw this homeless kid selling drugs on the street on my way back home yesterday." He yawned, stretching his arms, "I felt sorry for the kid, so I bought a bottle. No idea what it was, though." He glanced at the clock on the wall. "Are we done? It's three in the morning."

Kanda pushed on, "You bought unknown drugs from a stranger on the street."

"Uh-huh."

"...Where?" Kanda challenged, not believing his story one bit.

"Somewhere near Central Park. Lexington Avenue, I think." Kanda jolted at the location, mere minutes from Lenox Hill Hospital.

"You have anyone to vouch for that?"

Cross shook his head. "It's hard to make friends when you've just got out of prison, Detective." He sighed, "Look, whatever you might think, I don't have anything to do with those girls, alright? Sorry they got killed, but all I know about them is what I've seen on TV."

Kanda flipped through his file. "I wouldn't lie if I were you. It says here you worked as a waiter at the Hard Rock Cafe." He looked up. "I don't think it's a coincidence that Eileen Song happened to be working at that exact same restaurant when she was killed."

"Woah." Cross held up his hands, "I don't know nothing about that, OK? A friend got me an interview there, and I went to work for a month before they fired me. It's a big restaurant. I didn't know everybody that worked there."

"I'll ask again, Cross. Where were you on Wednesday night?"

He stiffed. "I was at home, sleeping. Alone."

Kanda faked a displeased expression, "Oh dear. Rohypnol in your apartment, connections to a victim, and no alibi." He 'tsked'. "I think we both know what a jury would say if they were to hear that." In truth, a jury probably wouldn't convict based on evidence like this, but it was another technique. Clearly Cross was hiding something, and Kanda was going to find out what it was. The other man pursed his lips and stayed silent, eyes staring fixedly at the table. Kanda smiled inwardly; the man was obviously close to cracking. Any second now, he was going to-

His phone rang loudly from his pocket, and Kanda resisted the urge to curse aloud. He let it ring and didn't take his eyes off Cross.

"You gonna get that?" Said the older man, pointing to his phone. Kanda stood reluctantly and exited the room.

"What the Hell, Reever?!" He half yelled into the receiver. "I was so close to getting something important out of a suspect! Now he has time to regroup and come up with more bullshit!"

"...Kanda." The coroner's voice sounded thick. "Something's happened."

The detective frowned, as Lavi came out of the adjoining room with concern on his face. "It better be Goddamned important!"

There was a pause before the Australian man continued. "Another body just came in, from your serial."

"Another one? Do we have an ID? Where was it found?" He demanded.

Another long pause. "It's..."

The detective was about to snap, "For God's sake, what is it?!"

When Reever spoke the three little syllables quietly, Kanda instantly felt his whole world crashing down around him.

* * *

OK, alright. I have no excuse for being late, especially when my chapters are so short. I try, I really really try, but I just can't bring myself to write a 5k words long chapter... So deal with it XD.

Terminology:

IAFIS - Integrated Automated Fingerprint Identification System(seriously, who comes up with these names??). A criminal history system maintained by the FBI and used by local, state and federal law enforcement agencies in the U.S.. It is the largest biometric database in the world.

Uniform - Refers to field police officers who often accompany detectives when they are pursuing a lead. Kanda and Lavi, in this case, are not considered actual police officers, but investigators from the criminology department.

NYPD - New York Police Department. This one should have been common knowledge, but I just thought I should clear things up...

Review replies:

**Irrelevancy: **Thank you for not letting my careful bolding of the word "review" be in vain! :D KanLena is actually my favorite het pairing in DGM. I don't mind AlLena, but it just doesn't seem to be as likely to me, just because Allen's such a... I'm going to say gentleman, to be nice (:

**James Birdsong: **Thank you :) I like your short and sweet review, too.

**DarkMadamRose: **I wish I could write longer chapters, but it seems utterly impossible for me ): sorry! Glad you liked the KanLena, although I can tell you the TyKan is coming real soon! :D Thanks for reviewing!

**marufu-chan: **I really do feel sorry for Lenalee at times, but I can't seem to resist the urge to hurt her D: It's not that I don't like her as a character, I just can't stop myself from making something bad happen to her. Guess that makes me a bitch, eh? Lol. Thanks for the review!

**simply anonymous: ***GASP* Did you not expect Lenalee to be in this series? I would NEVER do something stupid like leaving one of the main characters out of the plot!(which is another way of saying I totally forgot about her at first XD) Thanks for reviewing!

**wolfpup026: **I was a little hesitant when writing about the engagement, actually... I wasn't sure if I should have incorporated such an intimate relationship between Kanda and another character when this is supposed to be yaoi. But I guess it'll work out :) Lenalee IS a lucky b* to be working with Tyki! I think I'm slightly jealous of her :P

**MoonlitMelody: **Don't worry about it, most of the time, I don't even review fics I read! And yes, school should be blamed for everything. :P Well... you'll see what I mean... Thanks for the awesome review!

**gymnast10: **Yes, what a "coincidence"...*wink wink*... Holy crap, I can make twists in the plot O: lol... Thanks for the review!

**Mysticmoon: **Hm... you're right, it should be called LenaKan, just cause Kanda's such a freaking ice cube XD Well, you can keep pondering on your ideas.... *slowly walks away* :P Thanks for reviewing!

Ahem.** REVIEW**. You know you want to...

Oh yeah, and an extra shout of thanks to DarkMadamRose for reviewing my angsty little drabble thing. You made my day! :)

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DGM OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS. IF YOU HAVEN'T FIGURED THAT OUT ALREADY, YOU SHOULD SEEK PROFESSIONAL HELP :P**


	5. Chapter 5

Kanda's legs seemed to have a mind of their own as they carried him to the morgue, ignoring the confused cries of what must have been Lavi behind him. It was as if he had floated out of his body, and was now watching the entire scene unfold beneath. He saw himself raise a hand to his mouth upon entering the room. He heard badly-stifled sobs coming from a figure hunched in a corner. He felt his knees hit the floor, his free hand slapping against the linoleum. He tasted sour bile rise quickly in the back of his throat. And then he smelled his own vomit, splattered on the tiles.

Reever rushed forward, hands outstretched. Kanda made a move to get himself off the floor, but found that his muscles had failed him; he could do no more than lean into the pressure of Reever's arm against his, leading him carefully onto a nearby chair. The coroner gestured silently for Johnny, who was kneeling next to Komui in the corner of the room, to clean up the mess, as though he was afraid Kanda would have a mental breakdown if he spoke a single word.

A napkin was brought to Kanda's lips by anonymous hands, and he took it with his own before the other person could start wiping him down like a toddler. He kept his eyes firmly on the floor as he wiped his mouth clean, glad of something else to stare at. Something other than _her._

No. No, no. That... _thing_, it wasn't Lenalee. Not anymore.

Almost afraid of what he was about to do next, Kanda stood, perhaps a little shakily, from his seat. Reever made a motion to stop him, speaking English that Kanda couldn't quite understand. He opened his mouth, then closed it again when no words came out.

His legs took control once again as they marched him over the metal table. Put one foot in front of the other and repeat as often as necessary. Easy, now.

He let his eyes wander to her body first. Her hands, slightly rough from the rigorous washing she did on her job, but felt so soft when they caressed his cheeks. Her shoulders. How many times had he rested his chin on them while he held her? Too many to count, he'd bet.

When the bruises on her neck came into view, Kanda had to bite back small yell. They looked so wrong, there, on her neck. On his Lenalee's neck. Those evil black markings had no place on her angel skin. Kanda longed to wipe them away like dust.

Sucking in a deep breath, his eyes rested on her face. She looked no different from all those mornings when he had waken before her, and indulged himself in watching her sleeping face, if only for a few moments. And yet he knew that if he touched her now, there would be no warmth meeting his fingers, no tinkling laugh and no playful voice telling him to stop it.

Kanda slided his fingers through her hair, framing her bangs around her face, where they were supposed to be, only to have the strands falling back onto the table, soulless, lifeless, like hair was supposed to be. He remembered her coming home a couple of weeks ago and asking him excitedly how he thought her haircut looked. He remembered himself working on a case, waving her off carelessly. He remembered her shaking her head and smiling knowingly, then leaving to make dinner.

A strangled sob sounded, and it took him a while to realize it had came from him. There were more voices in the room now, talking more nonsense, and he ignored them completely. Tears, _his _tears, fell like raindrops on her angel skin, with no hands to wipe them away.

* * *

Lavi stared, with his mouth open, at Kanda's back, facing his dead fiancé and away from the rest of the room. Even at a distance, he could tell the Japanese man's shoulders were shaking. He turned to Reever and croaked, "When did-?"

"About an hour ago." The Australian replied, keeping his eyes on Kanda as well. "I haven't... done an official autopsy yet." His eyes travelled to Komui, who was sitting in Kanda's vacant chair staring blankly at the wall with puffy eyes, "This is really hard, for everybody. She used to come around to P.D. a lot when she was a kid."

The redhead merely nodded, looking at the face of the young woman with a deep frown. _The nurse from the hospital..._ He'd been there. He'd _been _there, and he didn't do anything. He could have noticed, he could have said something, _anything_, to warn her. Why the hell didn't he say anything?!

His left hand shot out to find a table for support. _How did this happen? Could Mikk have known about her and Kanda_? No, he shook his head. There was no way; he definitely didn't reveal to anyone he was even working with the NYPD, and even if Lenalee had told Mikk, he should have known that killing her would be the stupidest thing he could possibly do; it would only put more suspicion on him.

"You're sure it's the serial?" He asked the coroner.

"Positive. All the signs are there."

Lavi frowned. So if Mikk hadn't known, this meant he was escalating, and fast. He'd gone from one victim in a year and a half to four in under two months. This was very bad news, for the P.D., to the government, and for residents of New York city. If this keeps up, they were going to have a city-wide emergency on their hands-

"Kanda?" Reever's voice rang through the room, and Lavi looked up to see the Japanese detective walking out of the room without a word. He followed suit.

"Yu!" He called down the hall. Kanda's stride didn't slow. "Yu!" He called again, but to no avail. As he rounded a corner, he saw Kanda pass the interrogation room Cross was still in and, staring through the glass panel on the door with a pained expression on his face, Allen Walker.

"Ah, sir!" Called the white-haired youth, stepping in front of Kanda. "I need to talk to you, it's really urgent, I-" He paused, studying the man, "Sir, are you alright? Where are you going?"

Kanda seemed to stare straight ahead as Lavi caught up with them, "Home."

"But sir, your shift doesn't end for another two hours." Inquired Walker.

"Yu-chan, you've gotta listen to me," Lavi said quickly, "You can't go to Mikk like this, you're not thinking right now and-"

Kanda cut him off, still avoiding eye-contact, "I'm not going to Mikk." He strode around Walker and was about to continue on his way when Lavi grabbed his arm.

"Yes, you are. Don't lie to me, Yu." He said seriously.

Kanda turned his head suddenly, his black orbs digging into Lavi's. "I'm not going to Mikk. I need to be alone." Something in his tone told Lavi he wasn't lying. He let go and watched his partner disappear out the main doors and into the night. There had to be a way to make this right. There had to be a way.

"Detective Stratton?" Said Walker, "What's going on?"

Lavi frowned at the assistant. "It's... Kanda's fiancé." He took a deep breath, "She's been killed."

"My God," Breathed the young man, "That's... that's terrible."

"Yeah, it is." Lavi turned to the interrogation room. Cross winked at him from the table. He put a hand on the doorknob and was about to turn it when Walker's voice sounded again.

"Um, Detective?" He frowned, hesitating, "I... I need to talk to you." He looked like he had a terrible toothache as he tried to get words out, "I, uh... Well... I mean, what I meant to say is that um..."

Lavi sighed. "What is it?"

"It's... my adoptive father, Detective," He finally said, eyes darting from Lavi to the interrogation room. "It seems he's gotten himself into trouble again, and I probably shouldn't even ask you this, since it's against protocol and all, but..."

Lavi looked from Walker to Cross, then back again. "Oh. OH. Yeah, sure, I-" He stopped himself; obviously Cross wasn't a suspect anymore, but Walker didn't know that, did he? Lavi could definitely use this to his advantage... He feigned a serious expression. "You realize your adoptive father's part of an ongoing murder investigation?"

Walker looked like he was expecting this, "But he'd never kill anyone, Detective!" He said desperately, "I mean, he may have done some stupid things in the past, but he's not a killer, I swear!"

Lavi crossed his arms. "Well, I don't know that for sure now, do I? For all I know he can be the serial killer himself-"

"Please, Detective!" Said Walker, "If you'll just let him off the hook this once, I swear on my life, he'll never be any trouble again!"

"Well..." He trailed off purposely, leaving the other man to dangle. "Alright. But I hope you know it's your ass on the line if we ever hear about him again!"

"Thank you so much, Detective!" Walker beamed, and opened the door. "Come on, you can go!" He said to Cross, who leapt up with a grin on his face.

"Did my idiot son convince you to let me go?" He looked at Walker, "Well, well, didn't know you had these kinds of connections, Allen."

Walker looked furious, "Well, if you'd just stay out of trouble for once in your life, I wouldn't have to use these connections!" They started to walk away, "Jesus, if you actually got caught doing something illegal-"

"Oh, Walker?" Lavi called out.

"Yessir?"

"I do have one condition for releasing Cross," Said the redhead. "Now you have to help me with a little somethin'..."

* * *

Kanda was lying on the couch, his arm slung over his face to cover his eyes when the doorbell rang. He groaned and turned onto his side, grabbing a cushion and covering his ears against the unwanted noise. All he wanted was to be alone, why didn't people fucking understand that?!

A few minutes passed, and the knocking stopped. Kanda relaxed a bit, releasing his hold on the cushion, only to have it yanked sharply out of his hands.

"Yu." Great. Just great. "You alright?"

Kanda stared at Lavi for a long moment. "How the hell did you get in here?"

The redhead held up something small, glinting in the dim lighting of Kanda's living room, "Key under the doormat, Yu. You really shouldn't do that, you know."

"I didn't put it there, it was-" He closed his eyes and turned away from Lavi. "Why are you here?"

"I thought I'd bring you some food, seeing as you don't look like you can take care o' yourself all that well. You shouldn't be alone like this, Yu. You have to talk to someone." He brought out a large package and set it down on the kitchen table.

"Go to hell." Kanda mumbled, his eyes still closed.

"Already have, buddy. They kicked me back up here." He shivered as he walked over to Kanda's thermostat. "God, why are all your windows open and your air conditioning on full blast? It's the middle of the night, you're gonna catch a cold like this!"

At first, Kanda was just trying to get rid of the smell. He'd thrown away all of Lenalee's scented candles in a rampage in the apartment, and threw open all his windows in a mad attempt to try and eliminate the lavender vanilla that was driving him insane. After he felt the chill for a while it became an obssession, and he turned up his air conditioning to full and waited as the cold numbed his senses. It felt good, really.

He heard the knob turning as Lavi adjusted the temperature to a level a human being could survive in, and a moment later the other end of the couch depressed as the redhead sat down on it. "You haven't answered my question, Yu. How are you?"

"I'm fine." He said, in a voice that didn't sound like his own.

Lavi seemed to hear it, too. "Are you really?"

"Yes."

The other sighed. "You're a terrible liar, you know that?" Kanda glared at him. "What? Look at you! You haven't shown up for work for two weeks. How long has it been since you last got off this couch?"

Kanda frowned. How long had it been? Three days, a week? He didn't know and, quite frankly, he didn't care.

"Get up. I have a plan."

Kanda looked away again, saying nothing.

"Didn't you hear me? I said, I have a-"

"I heard you the first time." Said the Japanese man, "A plan for what?"

Lavi thumped him on the back, and Kanda winced, "A plan for catching Mikk, of course! Now, I had Allen do some research for me, and he should be calling me back any second now, actually." The redhead pulled out his cellphone and checked his call history list. The beeping of the buttons ensued, and Kanda suddenly felt like taking the phone from his partner and flushing it down the toilet.

"I don't care." The beeping stopped.

"What?"

"I don't care," Kanda repeated, "I don't care about your stupid plan."

"But," Lavi exclaimed, "I have a way of getting info out of Mikk! If this works, we'll be able to gather all the evidence we need to convict the bastard and-" The detective narrowed his eyes, "Wait. You can't still be having doubts about Mikk, right?"

Kanda's expression didn't change. "Why does it matter what I think?" He raised his head slightly toward the other man.

"What?" Lavi sounded like Kanda just asked him what color the sky was. "Because it's Mikk, for Christ's sake! Don't you want to give all these murdered people justice? Don't you want to give your own fiancé justice?"

It took a long time for Kanda to answer, "I don't care. Just leave me alone."

"Come on, talk to me." Said Lavi, leaning back and resting his hands behind his head.

"There's nothing to say, you idiot." He snapped, "I wasn't careful, she got involved, the end."

There was a moment of silence, and Kanda felt Lavi's eyes boring into the side of his face, "...You're blaming yourself for this?"

"Who else could I blame?"

"This wasn't your fault, Yu."

"Whose fault is it, then?!" Kanda stood up abruptly, the cushion stil tightly clutched in his hand, "I should've said something! I should've warned her! But I was so damned insistent on obeying the rules that I couldn't stop Lenalee from getting involved!" He threw the cushion at Lavi in frustration, and the latter dodged it easily. "Don't tell me it wasn't my fault because you damn well know-"

"Stop it, Yu." The quietness of Lavi's voice was deafening. "Stop for a second, and take a look at yourself. What happened to the Kanda I first met? What happened to the guy that was determined to catch this killer? What happened to the guy who would never let a guy like Mikk walk free?!"

Kanda stayed silent, listening to the other man's breathing slow down, bit by bit. "Alright. I guess I should give you some time to think about this," He stood up to leave. "But Yu, please, _please_ think about it. You're never gonna be able to get over this if you let this killer walk; you know that as well as I do, and I also know that I can't do this alone. Give me a call, OK?"

Without waiting for a response, he walked out of the apartment with even strides, shutting the door quietly behind him. Kanda waited, for five minutes, ten, before ambling into his kitchen and sitting down at the table. He silently opened the package Lavi brought and started to eat.

* * *

Hello, everyone! Lovely day, isn't it? Well, I probably shouldn't be saying that because this was such an emo chapter, but I'm in a good mood. Maybe it's because Lenalee died (I'm not a hater, I swear! It's just that she had to die in order for me to move on with the plot, and I'm happy that I finally get to do that!) Perhaps I should stop being so evil... ;)

Oh yeah, one more thing. I know some of you guys have noticed minor spelling and grammar issues in these chapters, and so have I. I've refrained from correcting them, however, because I recently found out that everytime I edit one of my chapters after it's been published, all those who have this story on story alert will get another email saying I've updated, no matter how small the correction is. I know how annoying that can get, so I haven't been correcting mistakes that I find, which is driving me crazy, believe it or not. I am a bit of a perfectionist. So please forgive me if you are deeply bothered by this, and feel free to tell me in a review.

Review replies:

**Lee Isidor: **Thanks for reviewing my drabble! I was afraid people wouldn't like the angst, but I guess you did :D

Ahh yes, the capitalization. Ever since I took Keyboarding 101(which, by the way, is the most boring option you can afford to waste your time on) last year, I've gotten into the habit of capitalizing everything I'm supposed to, everything I'm not supposed to, and everything in between. I'm trying to correct myself as often as possible, but, being the lazy ass that I am, I hardly ever proof-read anything, and stuff like this slips past me.

Sorry there's no TyKan yet in this chapter. I'm just trying to ease past the Lenalee death thing, because I don't think it'd be a good idea to rush through it, but it is coming, I tell you! Maybe even the next chapter, depending on how that turns out :D Thanks for the review!

**Irrelevancy: **Haha Cross is definitely one of my favorite characters. I loved writing him hitting on Kanda :P Although in my opinion he's not really a bad guy, so I probably won't make him kill anybody, but I can tell you that this isn't the last you've seen of him! ;) Thanks for reviewing!

**kayter: **Hey, you guessed right! 10 virtual cookies for you! XD I haven't seen se7en, actually... I've heard a lot of my friends talk about it though, it does sound like a great film. Hm.. maybe I should find some time to watch it, then... Thanks for the review!

**Zenigami: **Yay, you guessed right, too! Although I'm sure I made it pretty obvious in the previous chapter that it was going to be Lenalee. Well, can't say I'm too much of a Lena-hater either, but I'm just glad I can move past this point in the plot now :) Thanks for reviewing!

**DarkMadamRose: **Well... now you know what happened :D I love Cross too, he's such a douchebag... and kind of a creeper too, but not as much as Tyki, of course :P I wonder who would win in a stalker competition, Cross or Tyki... Thanks for the review!

**gymnast10: **Wow, everyone's on a roll today... XD I didn't really intend for Lenalee's death to be a surprise, so I guess this was expected :) Well, I wouldn't say absolutely insane, but he's gone pretty damn close XP I love torturing Kanda like this. Yay, everyone likes Cross! :D I don't incorporate the characters intentionally, actually :P I create this side characters as minor OCs originally, but never give them a name, and when I actually put the chapter on paper, I start thinking to myself: hmm, this character would go really well as that character... and thus save myself the trouble of coming up with new names. I'm horrible at coming up with names, really. Thanks for reviewing!

**Marufu-chan: **I'm not...? OMFG someone said I'm not a bitch! Nobody ever says that! XD My friend and I call each other bitches so often it's ridiculous(but I love her that way :P). And OMG I wrote a cliffhanger?! I feel so accomplished now :D Thanks for the review!

**Something: **You liked the ending? That makes one of us XD That was a really sad attempt at humour gone bad... Thanks for reviewing anyway! :)

**Moonlit Melody: **Of course. I completely understand how much of a bitch school can be, since it's being a bitch to me right now... T.T Anyway, I feel bad for Kanda, too... and then I remember that I'm the author and I start coming up with more ways to make him miserable :P Yes, KanLena was a short-lived pairing, no? But the plot must go on! *insert dramatic music here* Thanks for the review!

**Xenophili: **Lol, there should be an "Edward Cullen Hate" community on ... I should start one... hehe

Oh, you didn't like how I portrayed Allen, eh? *runs away* well, can't say you'll like him more in this chapter T.T... I can't help it though, I just really don't like him as a character... Ah well, forget my Allen rant. Glad you're going to keep reading anyway, I love readers who don't stop following a series just because they don't like the way characters or pairings are portrayed. I mean, when you get down to it, good writing is good writing, no? Anyway, I'm launching into another rant now, better stop myself while I can. Thanks for reviewing!

So. You know what comes next, don't you? **REVIEW!! Or I'll... um... take those matches from chapter 1 and burn down your house instead! Haha, just kidding ;)**

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DGM OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS. IF I DO, I WOULD NOT BE ON THIS SITE(FAN fiction, get it?)**


	6. Chapter 6

Lavi leaned back against his chair and stole a glance at his watch. The second hand seemed to tick by with the power of nuclear explosions in his head. Across the room, Allen Walker cleared his throat uncomfortably.

"Shouldn't I begin now, Detective?" The white-haired young man asked.

Lavi pursed his lips, keeping his eyes firmly off his watch now. "No, we have to wait until Yu gets here."

"But, I'm wondering…" Allen's words trailed off for a moment before they picked up again, "He's grieving right now, isn't he? Aren't we asking too much by bringing him back into this mess so soon?"

"This is the only way we can help Yu cope, Allen. This is the most crucial stage; if we don't get him back into the game before everything sinks in, he's never gonna forgive himself for this."

"Another thing. This…" Began the other, "What we're doing. I'm pretty sure it's against the law."

The redhead smirked. "Come on, lighten up. We're doing the general public a whole lot of good with this, you know. So what if we have to break a few rules while doing it? No one's gonna blame us once we arrest Mikk and put an end to it." He paused, eyeing Allen carefully. "Speaking of the plan. Have you thought about my request?"

"Yes, I have. And with all due respect, sir, my answer is no. No way in **hell**."

"Ahh, thought you might say that." Lavi shrugged. "That's the only thing missing right now, a volunteer. I'll ask Yu if he has a possible candidate once he gets here." Allen shot him a doubtful look. "Don't worry, he'll come."

As if on cue, the phone rang loudly on the small coffee table. Lavi picked it up halfway through the first ring. "Hello?"

"Mr. Stratton?" The hotel receptionist sounded uncertain. "I have a Mr. Yu Kanda here to see you. Shall I send him up to your room?"

Lavi flashed Allen a triumphant smile, "Yes, right away, please." He placed the receiver back. "What'd I tell ya? He came, didn't he?" He settled back into his chair and waited for the knock on his door, which came a minute later. He tried to process the sound on his way to the door; How did it sound? Hesitant? Reluctant? Listless? Maybe even angry? _Nah… _he said to himself. He was probably reading way too much into this; what was there in a knock, after all?

When he opened the door the answer stood right there in front of him. The hesitance, the reluctance, the listlessness, the anger, it was all there, written plainly on Kanda's face. It startled Lavi to see the Japanese man's emotions laid out for all to see like this. Lavi watched his partner's face, searching for some indication that maybe he was OK, and found none; Kanda looked like he was being torn apart from the inside.

Lavi's chest ached. He pushed the feeling away and forced a grin onto his face. "Hey, Yu. Come on in." He stood aside and let Kanda pass, before shutting the door again.

Kanda and Allen were having a staring contest when Lavi rejoined them. It felt like an eternity had passed before the former spoke. "What's the beansprout doing here?" His voice sounded scratchy.

"I thought he deserved some credit. He was the one who came up with the most important part of our master plan, actually." He gestured to the chair he'd left a minute earlier, "Sit. It's gonna take a while for us to explain everything to you."

Allen waited for a nod of confirmation from Lavi, and when he gave it, leapt to his feet instantly, as though wanting to get this over with as quickly as possible. Lavi couldn't blame him. "Right. So, since Tyki Mikk has been so uncooperative, and Detective Stratton tells me the both of you are hell-bent on catching this guy, we had to come up with a way of securing enough evidence to convict Mikk."

"I have a friend who works at Lenox Hill. She told me that the hospital's lawyer was fired two weeks ago for losing a lawsuit some patient filed against his doctor; the hospital lost almost half a million dollars. So they've been looking for a replacement, and this guy," He handed Lavi and Kanda copies of a resume, "Andres Takamura, applied for the job."

"What does this have to do with anything?" Kanda asked.

"I was getting to that. Detective Stratton here said the best way for us to collect evidence is to infiltrate the hospital as its lawyer. We were able to-" Allen gave Lavi a disapproving glare, "convince Mr. Takamura to abandon the opportunity."

The redhead spoke up. "In other words, I paid him off. Lucky I'm doin' pretty well in the financial department, eh?"

The white-haired youth shook his head at Lavi before continuing, "So basically, someone is going to pose as Andres Takamura, the lawyer, and use this connection to try and pry enough information out of Tyki Mikk. The head of the hospital has already been informed and has agreed to cooperate; apparently he's a fan of Detective Stratton."

"What can I say? Being famous has its advantages." Lavi winked.

"He says he'll tell no one else on staff, to ensure maximum secrecy. The only people that know about this plan are him, my contact at the hospital, and the three people in this room. And, of course, whichever poor, unfortunate soul we can convince to go undercover."

"That's the only problem right now, getting a volunteer." Said Lavi, as he stood up and walked toward the window, "We can't have anyone from the police force, it'll trigger too many questions; I'd like to have as little people involved as possible, but we'll have to bring someone in from the outside to do this job. Allen here refuses to do it," He turned back to face the room. "You know anyone, Yu?"

Kanda was still for a minute, still bent over the resume. When he finally looked up his eyes seemed to harden. "I'll do it."

Allen, who had sat down again after he finished, almost fell off his chair. Lavi blinked at Kanda. "What?"

"I'll do it." He repeated.

Lavi's wide strides crossed the room in seconds, "Are you insane?!" He grabbed Kanda's shoulders and started to shake. "Do you realize how dangerous this is? Do you have a death wish or somethi-?" Something clicked in the redhead's mind. He looked Kanda straight in the eye. "…Do you?"

The Japanese man's eyes flashed, and it was clear that they both knew what he was talking about. "No." The word was firm and decisive, with perhaps even a tint of accusation mixed in. "What kind of person do you think I am?" He started talking without waiting for a reply, as though he was afraid a single sentence from Lavi could change his mind, "Are you going to stand there and bitch about this for the rest of the day, or are you with me?"

"But-"

"**Are you with me?**" It wasn't a question, but a declaration. Join me or get out.

Lavi grabbed the resume out of the other's hand, avoiding eye contact. "He's gonna recognize you. Mikk, I mean."

"No, he isn't. I never appear on camera for my cases; the under-sheriff takes care of that." He snatched the sheets of paper back, "My name's going to be changed anyway, isn't it?"

The redhead reached for the resume once more, but Kanda held on. "What about Lenalee? They worked together, she could've easily told him she was engaged to you." He almost felt guilty for throwing this in his partner's face so soon after his fiancée's death, but something had to be done.

"She doesn't wear her ring to work." Kanda plowed on like he never heard the name, "Nurses have to wash their hands every ten minutes on the job, and she was afraid she'd lose it." He gave the resume a harder yank, "And before you ask, I don't like to have my picture taken; the only copy of the only photograph of us together is sitting in my living room." He paused for breath. "Now, I'm only going to ask you one more time, rabbit. Are you with me?"

The Japanese man's eyes were like steel when Lavi met them and heaved a sigh. "Yes."

"Good." The papers slipped out of his hand as the other claimed them and turned to face Allen Walker, "We need to work out the specifics, see if you can get your friend at the hospital on the phone, sprout. We have to cooperate seamlessly if this can even begin to work."

"Uh, my name's Allen."

"Do I look like I care?" Kanda deadpanned.

"We're gonna have to teach you how to be a lawyer, Yu." He put on a smile and hoped it looked convincing. "And yes, it might mean you're gonna have to stop yellin' at everybody."

The long-haired man shot him a strange look as he walked over and sat down at the table. "Whatever." He said, as he joined him.

As Allen began talking on his cellular phone, Lavi looked over at his partner. "…Can I ask you a question, Yu?"

Gray eyes slid towards him, "What?"

"Why did you call me 'rabbit' just now?"

"Because you look like one, idiot."

Lavi hadn't the faintest idea how he could've resembled a rodent, "What? No I don't."

"So you can call me Yu, and I can't even give you a fuckin' nickname?"

The redhead held up his hands in surrender, "Alright, alright." He trailed off with a small smile tugging at his lips. "Just curious."

* * *

"Mama Bird, Mama Bird, this is Papa Bird here in the Nest, do you copy?"

Kanda frowned, "What the hell, rabbit? Why do we even need code names, this isn't some sort of secret spy mission. And why the fuck am I Mama Bird?!" Pedestrians turned to give odd looks at the young man in a suit seemingly talking to himself.

"This is a _covert _operation, Yu. Of course we need code names! Now answer me, Mama Bird; do you copy?"

"What the f-"

"Do you copy?"

Kanda's frown deepened as he started to cross the street. "Yes, fine, I copy."

"What is your ETA to the batcave, Mama Bird?"

The Japanese man rolled his eyes, "I'm about a minute away from the hospital, if that's what you mean."

"Mickey Mouse is gonna meet you at the cave entrance and show you to your post for the next couple of months, Mama Bird. From there, you'll proceed to find the Big Bad Bear's lair, which should be somewhere on the third level-"

"In plain English, rabbit." Kanda almost growled.

"Oh come on, Mama Bird, we went through this yesterday!" Lavi's voice poured out of the tiny earpiece.

"Then obviously you've mistaken me for someone who actually listens while you talk. Just tell me the goddamned plan!"

There was static in the earpiece as the redhead sighed. "Fine. Fou's gonna meet you in the foyer and show you to your office, then you can go look for Mikk's office. It's on the third floor."

"There. That wasn't so hard, was it?" Kanda paused for a moment in front of the double doors, closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. When he opened them again, it was only in time to see the doors come crashing toward his face; he jumped back, a sound of surprise escaping from his lips. He looked up at the person who pushed open the door, his mouth open and ready for an angry remark, but felt his blood running cold in his veins.

The man looked up with a startled expression, his hand still on the door handle. His face broke into an apologetic one when he saw Kanda there, "Oh, I'm sorry. I almost hit you in the face, didn't I?" He smiled, and Kanda had to grind his teeth together to stop himself from punching the other. "I should watch where I'm going next time." The man looked at his clothes, "Can I help you with something? I'm a resident here."

"Mama Bird, who are you chirping to?" Came Lavi in his earpiece. Kanda ignored him.

Keeping his face blank, he extended a hand. "I'm here for the attorney position."

"Ah," the man nodded in understanding and took Kanda's hand; the feeling made him gag. "It's nice to see them finally getting rid of that incompetent moron. Tyki Mikk. Cardiac surgeon."

"Mama Bird, do you read me? Yu! Yu, is that-" Kanda reached up inconspicuously and turned off the device.

"Andres Takamura."

"Great to meet you, Andres. Come on, I can show you to your new office." Mikk held the door open for Kanda, who walked through without looking at him.

"So," Began Mikk, once the elevator doors shut. An old 80's song drifted in from the speakers, and Kanda tried to remember its name. Smalltown girl? Downtown girl? "You think you're up to the job?"

Kanda glanced at him from the corner of his eyes, wondering how that face would look when he arrested his ass, "Sure."

The elevators dinged open, and the song was cut off as they closed again, Kanda following Mikk through the halls. The taller man opened a door off the right side and gestured for Kanda to go in. "We do need a good lawyer; there's always somebody trying to sue the hospital because we didn't give his room enough pillows or something." He chuckled.

Kanda set his briefcase on top of the desk, pulling out his laptop and turning it on, "Hm." He hoped pursing his lips would be mistaken for a smile, because he sure as hell didn't have the morale to give a real one.

Mikk gave another smile and started to walk out of the room, "Well, if you need me for anything, feel free to come up to my office. 315." The door clicked shut quietly behind him.

Kanda let out a long breath he didn't know he was holding. These were going to be the longest months of his life.

* * *

Now, now. I know you're about a millisecond away from throwing tomatoes at me for taking so long to update, but I do have a legitimate excuse. OK, scratch that, I really don't, but hey, at least I finally updated. :D I'm gonna get straight to the review replies because you probably don't want to hear my babbling:

**Review Replies:**

**Im-a-tiger: **Thank you! I really do feel bad for my characters when I make them suffer, but then I push that to the back of my head and I'm the evil puppet master once more! Muahahahahaha! Ahem… Yeah. Er, about the pairing, I'm still pretty sure TyKan will be the main one, maybe hints of LaviYu on the side. Thanks for the review!

**Xenophili: **There is? I must go and find it! *spends hours on a search engine but has no luck because am terrible with computers* Yes, it really creates a problem when I'm reading a fic, and it's a really good fic, but it still bothers me if my favorite characters are bashed XP Thanks for staying with this fic! XD Thanks for the review!

**Irrelevancy: ***angel choir around big shining ball of reviews* Thank you so much! I do love a good does of angst, and you're right, if people don't understand it, they can go die :P Einstein? Seriously? Wow, I feel so accomplished now :D I am, by the way, female, so you can rest easy. Although I really don't think I would mind being mistaken for a guy… XP Well, OK, it's working extremely well, but I still didn't update for so long T.T Sorry about that. Thanks for the review!

**Hikaru S.: **Well, I can tell you that it's coming! Sometime! Hopefully soon! *trails off*… Yeah. XD. Thanks for the review!

**marufu-chan: **Well, Kanda does WANT to hit Tyki right now, but I don't think he'll actually do it… or will he? That's tempting to write, actually :P Haha I'm not a hater, huh? My friends would laugh their heads off if they ever hear this. I probably hate about 80% of people and things on this planet, but Lenalee just doesn't happen to be one of them :D. Thanks for the review!

**Zenigami: **Alright, scented candles for you then! *throws candles at unsuspecting reviewer* Not sure how Kanda would feel about that, though… *stalks off before being impaled by Mugen* Heheheheh… Thanks for the review!

**DarkMadamRose: **Thank you! I know I'm not really good at character development, so I hoped that I did chapter alright. Glad to see you liked it! I know, poor Kanda, eh? But I'm as glad as you are to get it over with, I was dreading writing these chapters with Lenalee's death XP And I'm looking forward to the TyKan, too! Hopefully I'll update soon this time :P Thanks for the review!

**Niacy: **Yeah, I guess Kanda really did love Lenalee, huh? :P Well, I tried to make it fit the mood as much as possible, hopefully I did OK. Thanks for the review!

**Jimmy the Gothic Egg: **First of all, before I forget. I love you pen name. Especially because I couldn't come up with something half decent *points up* See what I mean? You know what? I'm excited to see where this is going, too! XP Thanks for the review!

**wolfpup026: **It's alright, I never review every chapter of any of the fics I read, anyway! In fact, I hardly review at all, which makes me super grateful that you're reviewing! :D Anyway, I'm pretty sure Cross will return, but there probably won't be a pairing, although I like CrossKanda too :P Thanks for the review!

**gymnast10: **Thank you! That was my favorite part, too XP Lavi just seems like the type of person to do something like that, doesn't he? :P Well, Kanda isn't completely back on his feet this chapter, but he'll get there, eventually. XD Thanks for the review!

**sir authoress: **Thank you! I actually thought the plot might seem overused, and I was pretty nervous about that It feels like CSI, huh? I wouldn't be surprised if it does. I love CSI to death, and I've probably watched it a million times over already XD Thanks for the review!

**Katina Uchiha: **Thank you! I do love murder mysteries, too, and I agree with you, this isn't really mystery… I wonder what you would call it though? Lol. Thanks for the review!

Ahem. Should I even have to say it? **Review, **if you haven't given up on me yet for not updating for so long D:

**DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DGM OR ANY OF ITS CHARACTERS, IF YOU STILL THINK I DO… I HAVE NOTHING MORE TO SAY TO YOU.**


	7. Chapter 7

Kanda had about two minutes to himself in the small office, sliding papers in and out of his briefcase to get organized, before his door burst open with a loud bang, and in barged a young woman with an angry expression on her face.

"Thank God!" She exclaimed, looking extremely flustered; her cheeks were flushed, and a strand of her faintly red hair had gotten into her mouth. "Christ, I almost had a heart attack when I saw you walking into the elevator with Mikk. What the hell were you thinking?!"

The Japanese man eyed her with disdain. "Who're you?"

"Hello Kanda, nice to meet you too." She shot him a reproachful look before continuing,

"I'm Fou. You know, the one who's _supposed _to show you around? Any of this coming back to ya?"

"Tch." He ignored her, turning back to his briefcase, only to have a cellular phone shoved under his nose a second later that he recognized to be his own. He had purposely left the phone behind, but apparently the rabbit saw this coming.

"Here." Fou said, as Kanda took the phone with a questioning look, "Lavi's gonna have a mental breakdown if you don't call him soon; he gave me your phone beforehand and called me on it as soon as you turned off your earpiece. Go on, then," she urged him,

"Just go into the incoming calls list, it's right on top."

As Kanda reluctantly pressed the buttons, the young woman casually strode to his side of the desk and sank into his chair, humming under her breath as she did so. He didn't have time to tell her off before the phone was picked up, and Lavi's voice rang loudly into his ears.

"Fou! What the hell is going on over there?"

Kanda rolled his eyes. "It's me, rabbit."

If anything, stating his identity only made the other's voice explode with even more intensity, and Kanda had to hold the phone a couple of inches away from his ears to prevent hearing loss, "Good God, Yu! What the fuck were you playing at, going in with Mikk? The only way I'm letting you do this is under the condition that you wouldn't lose your cool and blow your entire cover; and that was both unnecessary and dangerous! If this is the way you're going to be for the next couple of months, I'll-"

"You'll what?" Challenged Kanda, hissing into the phone.

There was a heavy sigh on the other end of the line, and the other man stayed silent for a moment before continuing in a heavier, albeit calmer tone, "Look Yu. You and I both know that neither of us are really in a position to bargain right now, no? This is never gonna work if we can't cooperate with each other. I want you to promise you're not gonna cut me out like that again." a certain authority laced Lavi's voice as he said this, making Kanda frown.

"Fine." Kanda was quick to push the conversation forward, "So when are we going to scout out Mikk's office, anyway? No use wasting my time around here."

"Put me on speaker, Fou has to hear this too." Said Lavi. Kanda held the phone away from his ear and pressed a button on the side, placing the device on his desk so that Lavi's voice rang through the small room. "Right, so our orignial plan was to have Yu infiltrate Mikk's office during lunch break today. But after that little expedition-"

"Tch."

"-we have to start being more careful. We will go poke around in the office, but not today. Fou, didn't you say Mikk had some kind of appointment on Friday?"

The young woman spoke up immediately, still seated comfortably in Kanda's chair; the latter gave her a glare, but she ignored it wholeheartedly. "Yeah. I overheard a couple of the other nurses talking. Apparently Mikk won't be in for a couple of hours on Friday morning, something about picking up his niece from a doctor's appointment. I reckon that should give us enough time to give his office a general comb-through."

Kanda's frown deepened; something had just occurred to him. Before he could mention it, however, Lavi was plowing on. "Yu, take these couple of days to get used to your surroundings, and try to get some info out of the other staff if you can. I know it'll be hard, but just do your best to be a little nicer to people, alright?" Kanda growled at the phone. "And on Friday, we'll keep an eye out for Mikk. Once he leaves, Fou's gonna get you in the office and stand watch, in case anyone comes by. And no more radio silence, right Yu?"

"Yeah, whatever."

"So it's settled, then." As Fou finally lifted herself off of Kanda's chair and exited the room, Kanda picked up the phone on his desk and was about to hang up when Lavi spoke again. "Wait a minute, Yu."

Kanda took the cell off speaker-phone before pressing it to his ear, "What?"

"I need to know you're serious about keeping me in the loop from now on." Kanda rolled his eyes and shook his head slightly as he heard this. "If Mikk ever found out who you were, your life could be in danger. And in case you haven't noticed, that would be a _bad thing._" He accentuated the last few words as if Kanda couldn't understand him.

The Japanese man twitched, "Do you think I'm a fuckin' moron, Lavi? I may not have been undercover before, but I sure as hell know how to be smart about it. I only turned off the earpiece because you were yelling so loudly into it I couldn't hear myself think."

"OK." Lavi said, sounding a little resigned, "Listen... be careful, alright?"

Kanda tensed at the words, the exact same ones he'd said to Lenalee weeks earlier, during that last phone conversation they'd shared. The redhead, perhaps sensing a mood change on the other end of the line, voiced his concern, "Yu? Are you alright?"

"Fine," Kanda replied, maybe a bit too quickly. He hastily changed the subject. "You've stopped calling me 'Yu-chan'."

Now it was Lavi's turn to be silent. When the young man finally spoke, he did so with carefree tone, even adding a little chuckle at the beginning. "I guess I have, eh? Don't really know why, actually."

"Don't lie to me, rabbit." Kanda snapped, suddenly feeling annoyed at the other man. The only obvious reason he would've dropped the stupid nickname was probably as a gesture of goodwill to Kanda. A token of pity, if you will. "I don't need your fucking sympathy."

Kanda could almost hear Lavi smiling into the phone, "Tsk. Well, ain't that a shame?" He paused, "I guess I'll see you later then, Yu-_chan_." There was a dial tone before Kanda even had time to formulate a response.

He glared at the phone reproachfully. "Tch. Idiot."

* * *

"...here's your paperwork for the day, Mr. Takamura." The woman dropped a pile of papers onto Kanda's in-tray, mounting so high they actually managed to obscure his vision. "And Dr. Shamal's patient, Ms Ming, is threatening to sue the hospital if he keeps refusing to repeat her MRI."

Kanda looked up at her, "Didn't he already do the MRI three times?"

The nurse heaved a sigh. "Yeah, but she still refuses to believe she has a brain tumor. Insists she's got a heart problem; don't know what her heart has to do with any of this, though." She handed over the patients file, and Kanda took it.

"Thanks." He grumbled, already in a bad mood. And it was only nine o'clock in the morning, for God's sake.

"Welcome." She eyed the stack of paper before leaving, "Good luck with that." By the time the door closed behind her, Kanda felt like tossing the whole lot of papers into the shredder and then claiming he never got them. His job at the crime lab was consuming, sure, but didn't require nearly as much desk work. His biological clock had also, for all intents and purposes, gone completely FUBAR on him ever since this whole charade started; an average nine-to-five work day had so far proven to be disastrous to a body that's long since grown accustomed to the graveyard shift.

Resting the side of his face in his left hand, his right began to scribble messy signatures onto dotted line after dotted line, not even bothering to read what he was signing. During the past few days, Kanda had come to realize that once the work became automatic to his limbs, time flew in this place faster than Lavi confronted with sensible clothes, a principle that he had been vigorously maintaining ever since.

He was about a quarter through the stack when he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket, making him jump and slide his pen across the paper carelessly, creating a random line jutting out in the middle of a word. He swore quietly before taking out the phone and answering, "What?"

"Hey Yu, you ready?" Said Lavi, a hint of barely suppressed excitement in his voice.

Kanda grimaced. Today was the day of their so-called expedition into Mikk's office; the first step of many, he was sure. "Whatever. Is Fou coming?"

"Yeah, she's gonna keep watch outside, in case anyone comes by." the redhead replied,

"Actually, she should be at your office any second now."

Right on cue, the door to Kanda's office opened, revealing a smirking Fou. "Come on, you slowpoke. We're going."

Kanda hung up the phone as he stood up from his chair, stretched a moment, and followed her out of the room, closing the door behind him. "Don't you ever knock?" He said, pulling out his key and locking the office.

"No." She said, in a tone that suggested barging into rooms unannounced was a normal thing to do. As she entered the elevator and pressed a metal button labeled '3', she began to explain, "Mikk left about a half hour ago, and according to his schedule, he won't be back until at least one, so you've got a couple of hours in there." The elevator doors 'ding'ed open, and they strode across the empty carpeted halls; it was clinic duty time and most of the staff had gone downstairs. They stopped in front of one of the doors.

Kanda stepped forward and twisted the doorknob, trying to turn it. As he predicted, the knob didn't budge. "It's locked."

The red-haired young woman's smirk only grew wider as she took out a set of jiggling keys from the pocket of her scrubs, "Master key from the janitor's station." She pushed Kanda aside and held the keys up to the light, finally selecting one of them. "Honestly, I dunno what you guys would do without me."

Kanda chose not to answer, and entered the room right after he heard the lock click. He waved off Fou's reassurance that she'd be on watch in the foyer and call his cell if anything came up, opening up a filing cabinet on his right.

Folder after folder after folder, however, it was clear that the cabinet contained no more than patient files. Kanda closed the drawer again and moved on to the slightly cluttered desk, where what appeared to be more patient files littered the surface, some open and marked all over with a pen, and some stacked neatly in a pile in the corner as if to be stored. There was a plate bearing the words 'Dr. Tyki Mikk, Cardiology Dept. Head', and Kanda paid it no attention as he sat down behind the desk, giving the space bar a tap to wake Mikk's sleeping computer. If there was any incriminating evidence in this office, there was a very good chance it would be here.

He frowned as the screen lit up, asking for a password to the locked computer. All the hospital-owned computers in the building had a common password, but its users were free to change it whenever they deemed necessary. Mikk had probably changed the password on his computer just like Kanda had done, but it would be foolish not to try the obvious.

Kanda could see his surprised expression reflected in the screen, which had gone momentarily black after he entered the standard password, coming back in a moment to display the desktop.

The detective frowned as he started scrolling through Mikk's files. This wasn't normal behavior for a serial killer, who tend to be paranoid about the slightest things. So either Mikk was exceptionally careless, or…? He knew there was nothing on this computer that could incriminate him. Yes, that was it.

After finding nothing useful in the computer's hard drive, Kanda opened Mikk's internet history and scanned the list. It seemed like Mikk spent the vast majority of his internet time on email, and he didn't do so very often, either; the files spanned days, sometimes even weeks apart from one another. Kanda sighed and clicked on the email, and was actually glad to see that this, at least, was password-protected. He closed the window, and was about to get up from the seat when he spotted something else on the desk.

A framed photograph of three people in front of what looked like Hollywood Hill; he could barely make out the large white Hollywood sign behind Mikk's head. Kanda picked up the picture.

Smiling out of it was Mikk holding a little girl Kanda guessed to be around eight or nine years old, along with another man who greatly resembled both of them. With a pang he recognized Cyril Kamelot, head of the Noah Clan, an underground gang said to have been second only to the Russian mafia in its hostility, before its destruction and the highly publicized arrest of its leader.

Kanda felt his eyes narrow as he remembered something Lavi said what felt like years ago: _'Tyki Mikk is Kamelot's brother… I'll never forget the look he gave me at Kamelot's last trial. If he could've, he would've killed me right then, I'm sure.'_ From the picture, it certainly seemed like the brothers were close; Lavi's got one thing right, at least.

The Japanese man put the photograph back down and forced himself to look away from it. It bothered him to no end, the feeling this entire office gave him. One of normality, innocence, like Kanda had no right to invade the privacy of a doctor who didn't look like he'd ever done anything wrong in his life. Even the smiles in the picture seemed to berate him, making him feel like he was intruding on their own happy moment.

He just stood there for a while, thinking hard, and it took him several moments to realize his phone was vibrating. He took it out absentmindedly and pressed the talk button, "Hello?"

"Why the hell did it take you so long to answer?!" Fou's sharp tone brought him back to reality. "Mikk's back early, I just saw him going into the elevator! Get outta there, now!"

"Shit." Kanda hung up the phone and looked around wildly for his jacket before realizing he didn't bring one. Locking the door behind him as he exited, he half walked, half ran into the main hall, and headed straight for the stairs. Before he reached the stairway door next to the elevators, they slid open with another soft 'ding'.

And Kanda suddenly found himself face to face with Tyki Mikk.

* * *

Ahahaha… *scratches head before getting bludgeoned by angry readers* I apologize, once again, for the extremely late update. The past month or so has been a whole mess of family and personal issues that I'm not going to bore you with, but it's me, people. I'm still alive.

Been a little obsessed with Katekyo Hitman Reborn and Kuroshitsuji lately. Can anyone spot the KHR reference in this chapter? If you do… heck, I might even take fanfic requests, if you ask nicely ;)

Terminology (boy, haven't done this in a while, eh?):

MRI - Magnetic resonance imaging, a technique often used in radiology to distinguish pathologic tissue, such as a brain tumor, from normal tissue.

FUBAR - Fucked up beyond all repair. Don't ask, it's one of my favorite acronyms of all time, and I just couldn't resist putting it in there :P

The password thing. I don't really understand why it happens, but my dad's company has a system like that; personally I think it's stupid, but… *shrugs*

**Review Replies:**

**Jimmy the Gothic Egg: **Well I'm glad you liked the update, but I can't say I didn't leave you unsatiated for long… two freaking months. Sorry! XP Thanks for the review!

**Irrelevancy: **I guess the same thing could be said for this chapter: at least I updated… XD I think Kanda's adorable too, at times… *killed by Mugen* Well, when he's not being a douchebag, that is. Nah, what're you talking about, _anything's _relevant in my opinion! :D Thanks for the review!

**Zenigami: **The day Lavi becomes understandable is the day the world will end :P hey, I don't even get his ideas and I wrote them! I guess that means I don't understand my own head? D: LOL slippers… I remember the first time I spent a night in a hotel, I was absolutely amazed by their paper slippers that I wore them for the entire week. …Shut up, I was, like, nine. XP I miss Lenalee too, it's too bad we can't magically bring her back to life for no reason, this isn't Naruto, after all :P Thanks for the review!

**marufu-chan: **Thanks for not giving up on me! I think the code names were my favorite part of the chapter; it was certainly my favorite part to write about. Thanks for the review!

**Katina Uchiha: **Thank you~ Yeah, giving this fic a genre really gave me a hard time, and I really hated putting romance in there T.T Thanks for the review!

**BetweenBlueLines: **Your pen name reminds me of one of my favorite songs. Between the lines, by Sara Bareilles. Everyone should go listen to it. Lol, kidding… I won't force you. Omfg my story has depth?! :O I didn't think I was capable of something like that. Yes, about the pairings. As you can probably start to tell, there are hints of LavixKanda in this fic, but the pairing probably won't progress much further than that. And TykixKanda is probably going to be in later chapters, as they get… acquainted, shall we say, with each other XD Thanks so much, I'm glad I renewed your faith for DGM fanfics! Thanks for the review!

**DarkMadamRose: **Well, you'll just have to wait and see, won't you? XD I hope you liked this chapter, it was entirely in Kanda's POV; I do love writing in Kanda's point of view, I feel like I understand him the most out of all the characters. Thanks for the review!

I feel slightly ashamed in asking this after going so long without updating but…. Review, please? Pretty please with Kanda on top? XD

**DISCLAIMER: IF I OWNED DGM, I WOULD ACTUALLY KNOW WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN THE MANGA; HONESTLY, NOTHING MAKES SENSE ANYMORE T.T **


	8. Chapter 8

"Shamal." The word that slipped out of his mouth was the first one that came to mind, uttered so frantically that Mikk didn't even have time to finish asking him what he was doing there.

"Er, what?" The other's eyebrows knitted together in a slight frown.

Kanda almost hit himself in frustration as he felt the gears in his head turn at break-neck speeds to churn out a believable lie, "Uh… one of Shamal's patients is complaining that she has a heart problem." He said quickly. "We're pretty sure it's actually a brain tumor, but she won't believe it unless it comes from a specialist. I figured I might as well come up here and ask you to go check it out."

"Oh." The surgeon seemed a little surprised, but questioned it no further. "Well, come on over to my office, then. We can head down to radiology as soon as I get things sorted out up here. Come on, Rhode." He gestured to the little girl holding his hand, who gave Kanda a curious look as she followed Mikk out of the elevator.

Seeing the girl from the picture in the office kick-started Kanda's brain, which had been a little sluggish before. "Dr. Mikk, I wanted to ask you something." He said, walking to the other's office after the two.

"Please, feel free to call me Tyki." Replied Mikk as he unlocked the door and hung his jacket on a hook on the wall. "But by all means, fire away."

"Alright then, Tyki," his name tasted disgusting on his tongue as he watched the other stride across the office to the desk. "I heard from one of the nurses that-" Kanda's breath hitched in his throat as he looked past Mikk at his computer, the screen still brightly lit; in his rush before he had forgotten to log off.

Mikk didn't fail to notice the change in Kanda's expression as he turned, "Something wrong?"

Kanda stared; his head had been wiped completely blank. This was it, his entire cover is going to be blown up in his face. If Mikk figured out it was Kanda who logged onto his computer, his entire mission, no, even his _life _would be in danger. And he only had a few seconds to-

The Japanese man nearly jumped as a sudden knock came to the door. He stood, solidly frozen in place, as the other strode past him to open it, turning his head when a familiar voice issued from the doorway.

"Dr. Mikk, they need you for a second down in conference room four." Fou's voice sounded slightly out of breath, and Kanda realized he'd never been more glad to hear anything in his life. "Could you come with me?"

"Sure. I'll be right back, Andres; could you watch Rhode for me for a few minutes?"

It took Kanda a moment to register that he was being spoken to. "Of course." He replied, and Mikk left with Fou, giving him a smile of gratitude as the door clicked shut behind them.

He let out a breath as his eyes traveled to the only remaining occupant left in the room. The little girl was sitting in a chair holding a doll; she looked relaxed and her eyes were closed. Keeping an eye on her, Kanda ambled slowly over to the desk, and with a few short clicks, he had logged out and the screen was black as it had first been.

Kanda walked over to the little girl and took a seat on another chair beside her. She opened her eyes at his presence.

"Hi."

"Are you Uncle Tyki's friend?" She asked.

"I guess you could say that."

The girl let out a little hum at his response and started picking at the satin dress of her doll. They sat in silence for a few minutes before Kanda heard footsteps down the hall, Mikk entering the office a moment later.

"Hey, thanks for watching her." He said, taking Rhode's hand in his again as she hopped off the chair and over to her uncle. "We can go see Shamal's patient now, I'll drop Rhode off at the daycare downstairs."

"Sure."

"Oh yeah, didn't you want to ask me something?" Said Mikk, as elevator music floated over their heads.

"Right." Kanda turned to the other, determined to get some answers. "I heard from one of the nurses that you were taking your niece to a doctor's appointment this morning?"

"Yeah."

The Japanese man didn't break eye contact, "Well I don't mean to pry but, you're a doctor, and you work in a hospital." Was it just him, or did Mikk's expression tense a little? "Why didn't you just get her checked out here?"

The elevator doors opened, and this time it was obvious; the surgeon's lips had thinned into a straight line as they walked through the busy hall and stared pointedly ahead the entire time. After ushering Rhode into the daycare, he turned to Kanda with a serious expression on his face. "This isn't something I'd like to discuss in public. Do you really want to know?"

The undercover detective thought over it for a moment. "Yes."

"Tell you what," He said, leading the way back to the elevators; he pressed a button for the fifth floor. "If you honestly want to find out, come by my house tonight. Here's the address." Mikk slid a white card and a pen out of his pocket, scribbled something on the back and handed it to Kanda. "We'll talk it over then."

"You want me to come to your house?" He tried but failed to keep the incredulity out of his voice.

The dark-skinned man shrugged, "It's up to you, but I'm not going to talk about Rhode here." The elevator doors opened again to the radiology department. "You coming?"

Kanda fingered the card in his hand. "No, I still have a ton of paperwork to do in my office." Mikk nodded and waved him off. The Japanese man had one last glimpse of him heading down the hall with his hands tucked into his pockets before the heavy metal doors slid shut. He punched the button for his floor and stood there staring at the card, flipping it over to the front where Mikk's credentials were listed.

By the time the elevator opened again he had made up his mind.

* * *

"You're gonna do _what_?" Lavi's tone no longer sounded surprised but just plain exasperated. He heard Fou slapping her palm against her forehead elsewhere in the apartment.

"I just said, you idiot. I'm going to Mikk's house." Kanda handed over the card with the surgeon's address, shrugging a suit jacket over his shoulders. It was annoying enough that the detective and nurse had already been lounging on his couch by the time he got home, and now he had to explain his situation, which he guessed wouldn't go over too well with the others. He reached for the card but the redhead tugged it out of his reach.

"Why the hell didn't you tell me about this earlier? You said you wouldn't cut me out anymore." Lavi had a white grip on the piece of paper in his hand, as though hoping he could shred it that way.

Kanda huffed impatiently, holding out his hand for the address. "I'm telling you now, aren't I? Just give me the fucking card!"

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Lavi shouted. "We're here to bring down the son of a bitch who killed nine people in cold blood, and you're going on a fucking _date _with him?"

"What are you-? This isn't a- How dare you-?" Kanda took a deep breath and forced himself to calm down. "I'm going for the sake of the investigation, Lavi. My job is to find out as much about Mikk as I can so we can incriminate him, and that's exactly what I'm doing." He stepped back and leaned against the wall. "Didn't you find it strange that he took his niece out for a doctor's appointment when there's a building full of doctors, including him, at his workplace?" Lavi just stared. "When I confronted him about it, he said it was private business and that I should come to his house if I wanted to find out. There's definitely something fishy about this, and it'll give me a chance to snoop around his place."

Kanda knew, even as he said it, that his reasoning was flawless; the past few days had been disappointingly unproductive, he had so swarmed with his own work that he hardly had time to breathe, let alone poke around in Mikk's life. This might as well be their only chance in discovering a shred of evidence against the murderer. The Asian detective could practically see this train of thought traveling through Lavi's head and he frowned, and he gave a small smirk as the other signed in resignation.

"By the way," Kanda added as the thought hit him. "What's been going on at the station? You're still assigned to the case, aren't you?"

He seemed to take Lavi by surprise with the question. "Yeah, they haven't been able to give me another partner so I've been running the case alone. Everyone's been on edge cause we've got absolutely nothing to go on." He placed the card on Kanda's coffee table and sank onto the couch in a manner the word "exhausted" wouldn't come close to describing. "Komui came back to word a couple of days ago, but he isn't talking to anyone about what happened. No one's asked about where you are, not yet at least."

Kanda nodded. "Be sure not to give anything away about what we're doing."

Lavi chuckled. "'Course. What do ya think I am, stupid?"

Kanda stole a glance at the clock on the wall. It was seven thirty. "How long are we going to pretend you can actually stop me from going?" The other frowned at him as he took a step forward and swiped the card off the table. "I'll have my phone with me, call if anything comes up." His keys jingled in his pocket as he opened the door.

"Hey Yu." He looked back to see Lavi standing so close behind him he almost jumped. "Don't do anything stupid." The redhead flashed him a lopsided smile.

"Yeah," Fou agreed from behind Lavi, "I, for one, haven't had this much action in my life for years. It'd be a shame if you died on us."

Kanda scoffed and was in the middle of closing the door on his way out when something stopped him. He wore a scowl as he turned back toward Lavi and Fou standing just inside the doorway, looking expectant. "One more thing."

"What?"

"Get out of my apartment."

* * *

"Come on in, Andres." Mikk stepped back and held the door open.

The apartment, situated in middle class Staten Island, was a rather modest place with a fairly good view of the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge and Brooklyn County from across the Narrows. Kanda noted with surprise that everything appeared to be unpacked after just a month of living there, especially since it took himself several months after moving into his apartment to get everything out of cardboard boxes. That was before he had met Lenalee.

"Dr. Mikk."

"Please, call me Tyki." The Portuguese man said, gesturing to the cream-colored sofa. "Make yourself comfortable." Kanda eyed the other man cautiously as he took a seat. "You hungry? I just finished making dinner."

"Uh..." Kanda mentally cursed his traitorous stomach when it chose that very moment to grumble loudly.

Mikk laughed. "I see. Come and eat with us, then."

Kanda stood up hesitantly and followed the older man into the medium-sized kitchen with a round glass table taking up the majority of the dining area. Mikk strode into the room casually, carrying a large pot of some kind of stew and three bowls, which he proceeded to set on the table. Kanda hated to admit it, but it sure smelled good. "Rhode, dinner!" He turned back toward the hallway and called.

The little girl stepped into view just as Kanda took a seat at one of the four chairs around the table. She was still clutching the doll with the satin dress. Mikk spooned the stew into the smallest of the three bowls and set it down in front of her, and she started eating without another word.

Kanda poked at his own serving after it was handed to him; the stew seemed to consist of a variety of seafood and vegetables in a reddish soup, topped with something that looked like green onion. He eyed the little girl eating soundlessly again and put a spoonful into his mouth. It really did taste quite good.

"How's my cooking?" Asked Mikk, dribbling red sauce into his bowl of stew.

Kanda stared, unsure of what to say. "It's good." He finally decided after a long moment's pause. To ease the sudden tension he reached across the table and grabbed the bottle of sauce, opened the cap and all but dumped it into his bowl.

Mikk looked at him with wide eyes. "I don't think you want to do that."

"I can handle it." He spooned some stew into his mouth and nearly choked. The back of his throat seemed to tighten as the spice invaded the inside of his nostrils. He coughed loudly and took in a ragged breath, clapping his chest.

Mikk handed him a glass of water with an amused expression. "I told you so. Piri piri sauce isn't something you can just chug like that." He watched as Kanda downed the water like his life depended on it. "Here, I'll get you another bowl. There's no way you'd be able to eat that."

"No, that's OK." Kanda set the empty water glass down. His stomach was feeling uncomfortably warm and his appetite had been sufficiently ruined.

"You sure?"

"Positive. I could use another glass of water, though."

"Coming right up."

As Mikk left the table Kanda's eyes fell on Rhode, who had not stopped eating since her arrival; she was almost through her entire bowl. He studied the strange girl for a while before turned his attention to Mikk again when the other returned with a filled glass.

"Uncle Tyki?" He heard Rhode say as he emptied the glass. "I'm finished. Can I go to the playground downstairs?"

"Sure you can, kiddo." Said Mikk, ruffling her hair slightly. "Don't be too late, alright?"

Kanda watched the exchange silently. Again, the feeling that he was intruding on something completely innocent hit him, and he forced the thought into the back of his head, clearing his throat. "So, you know why I'm here, Dr… Tyki." The name sounded strange and foreign coming from his mouth.

Mikk wore a serious expression. "Yeah, I do."

"Why did you take your niece to a doctor's appointment outside the hospital?"

The surgeon swallowed, seemingly preparing himself. "Because it wasn't a doctor's appointment. I was taking her to see her therapist."

"Why? What's wrong with her?" he realized how rude he sounded immediate after having spoken. If Mikk took offense, he didn't show it.

"Rhode was diagnosed with schizophrenia when she was five. She complained about hearing voices telling her terrible things, and my brother, her father, decided to have her see a specialist once a week." He gave a humorless chuckle at this point. "She was improving, too. By the time she was six, the voices and the hallucinations were almost gone. And then… well, life happened." The older man fixed Kanda with a stare. "My brother is… a difficult person. He's made a lot of mistakes in his life, some of which really hurt the people around him. You probably know him as Cyril Kamelot, crime ring leader."

Kanda did his best to look surprised, but didn't say anything. Mikk raised an eyebrow at him.

"Wow. People usually flip at that; that was why I had to leave my old hospital. Things can get ugly if everyone you know suddenly sees you as nothing but a con man's brother. But anyway," the brunette shook his head, "Cyril's trial and imprisonment really took a toll on Rhode. About a week after she moved in with me, the hallucinations and the voices came back. I've found her a new therapist, but she isn't communicating very well with him; in fact, I had to take her back early today because she wouldn't say a word during the session."

"Oh." Kanda found that he had nothing else to say.

Mikk heaved a tired sigh, "I don't think for a second that Cyril shouldn't have gone to jail for what he did, but this isn't fair for Rhode. She doesn't deserve this." The grip on his spoon tightened, and his face was locked in a deep frown. "I feel so angry sometimes, and I don't know who to direct it at. Rhode never did anything wrong, she shouldn't have to pay for what happened."

_Neither did all the victims. But they all paid, didn't they? _Kanda stood suddenly. "Can I use your restroom?"

Mikk looked a little startled by the sudden request, "Sure. It's down the hall, third door to your right."

As he headed down the dim hall he heard the sound of clanking dishes and then running water. Without hesitating, he slipped into a small room across the hall from the bathroom; the room had a rather bare feeling to it, with practically no furniture except for a bed and a tiny desk, as well as a corner dedicated to dolls of various kinds. _This must be Rhode's room. _

A quick run-through of the drawers on the desk revealed nothing of interest, and the desk was empty but for a thick stack of notebooks at the corner. He barely touched the topmost one when he heard the running water from the kitchen stop. Heading back into the living room he found Mikk seated on the couch.

"To be honestly with you, I didn't think you'd come tonight." He quipped, leaning back into the cushions. "Most people turn away from this kind of unpleasantness. At least, I think that's why no one at the hospital thought to ask me about this." He smiled. "You're different. I like that."

"It's getting late. I should go." Said Kanda, heading toward the door.

Mikk stood with him. "Alright. I'll see you Monday?"

The Japanese man only raised his hand in a wave as he walked through the door, shutting it brusquely behind him. The courtyard outside was empty when he arrived downstairs, and he wrapped his jacket against the cooling November wind as he trudged across the parking lot to his car. For a few moments he simply sat in the seat gathering his thoughts. The visit definitely yielded answers, although he wasn't sure if the information he received was even relevant. Mikk's resentment for what happened to his niece could be a motive, but he still didn't understand how the man could have pulled off nine murders with a psychotic child in tow, especially since the child needed almost constant care. Every question solved in this case just seems to lead to more questions-

The loud, piercing beeping of his phone interrupted Kanda's thinking, and he flipped it open impatiently. "What?"

The voice at the other end came after a few second's silence. "Hi Kanda. It's Komui."

* * *

A/N: …Should I even try to explain? I didn't think so.

**Terminology:**

The bit on New York City geography was all courtesy of Wikipedia. If any of it happens to be wrong, blame it on that. :D

The stew Tyki makes is a Portuguese dish called Caldeirada, and the sauce is made of a chili pepper called piri piri. It's extremely spicy and widely used in Portuguese and East African cuisine.

Schizophrenia is a mental illness characterized by loss of the thinking process and emotional responsiveness. Common symptoms include auditory hallucinations, paranoid delusions, and disorganized speech.

**Review Replies:**

**Irrelevancy: **Yay, you got the reference! And I've already forgotten what I offered as a prize for that T.T I recently got a friend to watch Reborn and now we go around talking about all the characters in numbers. It drives our other friends nuts XD As a matter of fact, I'm doing both :P The fandom is just too awesome for just one. Thanks for the review!

**marufu-chan**: Wow I admire your determination, but are you sure you haven't given up this time? Four freaking months -_- And I actually didn't even think of the mafia thing, guess there's two reference now XP Thank for the review!

**Chocomintkt: **Why thank you! I happen to have a thing for creepy Tyki, too, although I have to say he isn't very creepy in this fic. At least not yet :PPP Thanks for the review!

**BlueCaterpillarAbsolem: **Thank you! Well I did bring Komui back at the end of this chapter, so I guess you'll have to wait and see ;) Thnks for your review!

**Proof of Repair: **Wow, thank you so much! The pace of this fic was actually something I brooded over for a long time because I keep thinking it's going a little fast. I'm glad someone liked it though! Thanks for your review!

**Neferiti: **Er.. if your "pleeaaaaaseeeee" was for an update, I can say that I've finally complied… after four months… T.T Anyway, thanks for the review!

**The Princess of Whatever: **I love your pen name, first of all XD Yeah, when I was writing that part I sat for a while compiling all the things Cross would get arrested for, and I came up with that master list :P Sick of quotebacks? NEVER! :D I seriously don't even know where that whole bit came from. I just sat down and started typing, and the idea just came out all by itself, glad to see you liked it Yeah, you were pretty much spot-on to say that this update took even longer, but at least I finally did it! :D Thanks for your reviews!

**A. Karma: **Er… Lavi's last name was pretty much just random, so no it doesn't have a meaning. Oh, you most certainly can, although there are better ways to see Edward Cullen's melting face (like melting it off yourself). Oh yeah, that'll definitely make it better. Edward Elric vs. Edward Cullen. Well, you know who I'm rooting for :D Thanks for the review!

So this is taking an exceptionally long time because my laptop has decided to hate me and makes the screen go black every 20 seconds T.T Does anyone want to help me fix this?

**DISCLAIMER: IF I OWNED DGM, THEN KANDA'S HAIR WOULD NOT HAVE TURNED PURPLE. SERIOUSLY WTF GO READ THE LATEST CHAPTER. **


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